The question is more important than you think:
When should I fit exercise within my daily schedule? For most, the answer depends on our family's schedule and working hours, and perhaps on whether we're 'larks' or 'night owls'. But over the past decade, researchers have found that much more hangs on this question than these constraints. That's because recent findings suggest that the effectiveness of exercise depends on the time of day (Exercise Time Of Day, ETOD).
Now, a randomized controlled trial not only confirms convincingly that ETOD affects the effectiveness of exercise, but also shows that these effects differ between types of exercise, and between women and men. The results are published in Frontiers in Physiology.
The authors recruited 30 women and 26 men to participate. All were between 25 and 55 years old, healthy, highly active, nonsmokers, and with normal weight. [...]
Importantly, female and male participants had been independently randomized beforehand to either of two regimes: exclusively training in the morning (60min between 06:30 and 08:30), or in the evening (between 18:00 and 20:00). Those assigned to morning exercise breakfasted after exercise, and ate three further meals at four-hour intervals. Those assigned to evening exercise ate three meals at four-hour intervals before training, plus another afterwards.
The researchers show that all participants improved in overall health and performance over the course of the trial, irrespective of their allocation to morning or evening exercise.
[...] But crucially, they also show that ETOD determines the strength of improvements in physical performance, body composition, cardiometabolic health, and mood.
[...] "Based on our findings, women interested in reducing belly fat and blood pressure, while at the same time increase leg muscle power should consider exercising in the morning. However, women interested in gaining upper body muscle strength, power and endurance, as well as improving overall mood state and food intake, evening exercise is the preferred choice," said Arciero.
"Conversely, evening exercise is ideal for men interested in improving heart and metabolic health, as well as emotional wellbeing."
Journal Reference:
Paul J. Arciero et al., Morning Exercise Reduces Abdominal Fat and Blood Pressure in Women; Evening Exercise Increases Muscular Performance in Women and Lowers Blood Pressure in Men [open], Front. Physiol., 2022. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.893783
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 02 2022, @04:03PM (3 children)
ETOD for couch potato, smokers, overweight and slightly damaged health? Asking for a friend.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 02 2022, @04:22PM
(Score: 4, Touché) by DannyB on Thursday June 02 2022, @04:23PM
It is too much of an exercise to try to fit exercise into my schedule.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 2) by bradley13 on Saturday June 04 2022, @12:43PM
Anytime. Anything. Please, your lungs beg you...
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 02 2022, @04:32PM
--- RIP "KING" Terry A. Davis
(Score: 5, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Thursday June 02 2022, @04:33PM
Whenever you are most likely to stick with it!
Any regular exercise is better than no exercise but at the optimal time!
(still interesting research tho)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 02 2022, @04:47PM (2 children)
Summer's here already, and I've been slacking off! Gotta get my abs back. In the big city, that little fat roll doesn't count as anorexic unlike in flyover country! Gotta have all kinds of gay sechs so that the pseudo-left will vomit and I can laugh at them. Morning is best, just 10 minutes. Sun salutations, then crunches, push-ups, squats, very basic but also very effective.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday June 02 2022, @10:30PM (1 child)
Squats are very hard on the knees, and can do damage that cannot be recovered from.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 03 2022, @12:01AM
Yes, take it slow and careful, build up muscle. Yoga is good for that, and warrior pose is probably better than squats unless your goal is strength building.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday June 02 2022, @04:50PM (5 children)
My wife and I found ourselves ETOD'ing after the children went to bed.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday June 02 2022, @04:53PM (3 children)
Please help with ETOD?
Google only gives back: Equitable transit-oriented development (ETOD)
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 02 2022, @05:04PM (2 children)
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday June 02 2022, @05:13PM (1 child)
Thank you
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 02 2022, @07:27PM
For shame. Racing to the comments before even skimming the summary? Shaaaaame!
(Score: 3, Touché) by Joe Desertrat on Saturday June 04 2022, @11:21PM
Isn't that how you got stuck with the kids in the first place?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by DannyB on Thursday June 02 2022, @04:51PM (21 children)
I lost 15% of my body weight in the last few years just by eating better.
It started about a year before covid. Sometime after the adult kid finally moved out. We started eating smaller portions. It was the kid that ate the most. My wife had always cooked based on that.
As covid took hold, we started having groceries delivered to our front door. We could wipe them down and bring them in. We started eating better quality food. Less junk food. More salads.
This wasn't any kind of crazy fad diet. It wasn't even planned. It just happened. My wife noticed it first. I did later. We both just gradually, slowly lost weight. It was slow. But unmistakable. We weren't even conscientious about losing weight.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 3, Funny) by Barenflimski on Thursday June 02 2022, @05:04PM (1 child)
If you're looking for that 15%, I can give you some of mine.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Thursday June 02 2022, @05:13PM
No thanks. I'm happy I lost it. Even happier that it happened gradually and I hardly noticed.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 3, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Thursday June 02 2022, @05:18PM (4 children)
Calories you burn while exercising vs. the calories you burn just sitting around add up to like one beer after an hour.
For weight loss it's pretty much all about diet. All that exercise to lose weight stuff is bullshit PR from the sugar industry.
Exercise is necessary to stay healthy though. Your heart and lungs and bones and spine and all sorts of stuff is helped by a healthy amount of muscle and a healthy heart.
And yes, it can help change you metabolism over time but even that just reaches a new stasis, it doesn't keep going.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Thursday June 02 2022, @06:54PM
There were a bunch of studies about 6 years ago about the 30-minute daily "brisk" walk that helped with everything from bone density to neurochemistry. So after cementing in that baseline of exercise, maybe then is a good time to start worrying about weight loss.
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Thursday June 02 2022, @07:22PM
> Calories you burn while exercising vs. the calories you burn just sitting around add up to like one beer after an hour.
Depressingly, for all but the most strenuous exercise, e.g. cold open water distance swimming, this is correct.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Thursday June 02 2022, @07:22PM (1 child)
Exercise increases muscle and metabolism, so your resting burn rate goes up.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 03 2022, @01:31PM
And a lot of these people also lack "won't power". If they didn't lack it they wouldn't be significantly overweight in the first place.
So they exercise, they feel ravenous then overeat and they don't lose weight.
For other groups of people exercise could even reduce appetite.
A fair bit of it is in the genes. But of course junk food and sugar won't help.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 02 2022, @05:42PM (8 children)
It sounds like you were burning a lot of calories just panicking over COVID.
(Score: 3, Touché) by DannyB on Thursday June 02 2022, @06:28PM (7 children)
I was never panicked about covid. I took all possible precautions. I felt as safe as I could be. Once Trump's "warp speed" got the vaccines rapidly developed and available, I got vaccinated. I've now had 4 shots -- 2 vaccinations and 2 boosters. I feel relaxed and safe. I have not caught covid yet. I know plenty who have.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 02 2022, @06:38PM (6 children)
Vaccine protection wanes rapidly. You're going to know many more people with covid, one of them very personally.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday June 02 2022, @06:41PM (5 children)
Or....he can continue to get extra boosters....
From what he has said on here it sounds like he's in an at-risk group...
(Score: 3, Touché) by DannyB on Thursday June 02 2022, @06:57PM (4 children)
I definitely intend to follow the advice of my doctors who I have seen for years.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 02 2022, @07:29PM
Ivory tower commie!!@!
/s cause these days........
(Score: 5, Touché) by DeathMonkey on Thursday June 02 2022, @07:32PM (2 children)
What, your NOT going to get your health advice from a bunch of randos on the internet?
weird.....
(Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Thursday June 02 2022, @08:13PM (1 child)
I don't mind listening to them for comedic value.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 02 2022, @10:36PM
In my "eye of the beholder", they sound pretty tragic to me.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Freeman on Thursday June 02 2022, @06:00PM (3 children)
That's the best way to lose weight. Most people didn't gain their weight in a few months or year or two. It's been a gradual packing on the pounds over the years. Yet, they want to try X FAD diet that will guarantee you lose 5lbs a week or more!
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday June 02 2022, @06:31PM (2 children)
Long ago I tried dieting. It worked! For a short time. But the weight comes back. What happened this time was a lifestyle change. And not an uncomfortable one. We ate less, but much better food. Reminds me of a business trip to Toronto for a week in 2007. Food was more expensive, smaller portions and tasted much better. I also noticed that Canadians were not over sized.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Thursday June 02 2022, @06:43PM (1 child)
Thinking of a diet as a temporary thing and not just what you always eat is part of the problem in our country!
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday June 02 2022, @06:53PM
That is what makes fad diet marketing possible! You only have to do this diet for a while. Then everything is just magically better! Guaranteed or you will get your extra pounds back!
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 02 2022, @08:23PM
Diet influences weight much much more than exercise. Most people trying to lose weight focus on the exercise but ignore what they eat.
In 15 minutes a meal containing 1500 calories can easily be consumed, and to burn that off would require running 15km @ a 90 minute pace! Or 3-4 P90X workouts in a row!
It's not hard to find such calorie-licous meals. We've all eaten them, for instance:
-Three pieces of a large pizzaria pizza + a beer
-One whole frozen pizza
-A large plate of pasta with cheesy & heavy cream alfredo sauce
-Half a large apple pie
-Big Mac + Large Fries + a McFlury
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 02 2022, @08:10PM
and a 2L Diet Coke.
Run forest Run!
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 02 2022, @08:46PM
WHO GIVES A FUCK WHAT YOU THINK?