Staying active is essential for good health, but, in addition, many people practice sports with the goal of losing weight and that is why they are especially interested in knowing what type of exercise they should do and what is the ideal schedule so that their effort is rewarded with a weight loss. Now, a new scientific study can help them get the most out of their physical activity.
The results of the work have been published in the scientific journal Obesity and reveal that, indeed, the time of day at which you exercise influences the control of body weight and that it is better to exercise first thing in the morning if what what you want is to lose weight.
The research has been carried out by scientists from the Franklin Pierce University in the United States, who have determined that the time slot between seven and nine in the morning is the time of day in which a greater association is observed between sports practice and a lower body mass index.
Benefits of morning physical activity on obesity
To reach this conclusion, data from 5,285 individuals who had participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2003 to 2006 were analyzed. The participants were divided into three groups based on the time of day in which they They exercised: in the morning, afternoon or evening, and to evaluate their physical performance an accelerometer was used, a more complex device than the pedometer.
Between seven and nine in the morning is the time of day in which a greater association is observed between sports practice and a lower body mass index.
They thus found that people who claimed to do sports in the morning (150 minutes of moderate to intense physical activity per week) had a lower body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference than those of the other groups. Generally, their diet was healthier and they had lower daily energy intake.
Although early risers were shown to be more sedentary during the day than people who exercised at other times, they were still thinner than individuals in the groups who exercised in the afternoon or at night. Furthermore, the people in this group were, on average, 10 to 13 years older than the others, there was a greater proportion of women, and they stood out for being non-Hispanic white, with university or higher education, and for not using tobacco. nor alcohol.
“Moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) protects against obesity. However, the optimal time of day to perform MVPA to control weight is controversial,” the authors of the work acknowledged in the publication of their conclusions, adding that “prospective studies and randomized clinical trials are needed to confirm the benefits of “Moderate to vigorous morning physical activity on obesity.”
A previous study published in Frontiers in Physiology in which 27 healthy, active women and 20 men participated, who carried out a diet and training program for 12 weeks, found that factors such as hormones, sleep cycles and other differences biological, can influence the results of training.
In this case, although everyone showed significant improvements in their physical condition and general health, different results were obtained between the morning and afternoon exercises, especially in the female participants. Specifically, women who exercised in the morning burned 7% more abdominal fat and their blood pressure decreased 7% more than those who exercised in the evening.
