It’s hard to lose weight, and the hardest thing to lose is your belly~
The previous article shared with you what kind of exercise is more effective in reducing belly fat. To put it simply, regular and moderate aerobic exercise is more effective in reducing visceral fat (waist circumference is an indicator of visceral fat) and fatty liver infiltration, and improving insulin resistance. Save time and be more effective.
Today I would like to share with you when is the best time to exercise to reduce belly fat?
Overview:
- Exercising between 7 and 9 a.m. may be more effective in reducing fat and waist circumference;
- For women, exercising in the morning may be more effective in reducing fat and abdominal fat;
- For men, there is no significant difference in the fat loss effect of exercise in the morning and evening, but the effect of exercise in the evening on relieving fatigue is more obvious.
Exercise reduces fat and reduces waist circumference. There are differences at different times.
A study published in the famous journal “Obesity” in 2023 pointed out that no matter what time of exercise, ensuring an appropriate amount of moderate to high-intensity exercise is helpful in controlling weight and waist circumference, but compared with those who exercise at noon and evening , people who exercise between 7 and 9 a.m. have lower BMI and waist circumference.
The researchers analyzed health and activity data from 5,285 people who participated in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2003-2004 and 2005-2006.
All participants were asked to wear accelerometers during waking hours for at least 7 days to more accurately record the duration of physical activity.
01 Exercise is better in the morning
After controlling for age, gender, race, education, smoking, drinking, sedentary behavior and amount of exercise, compared with the noon (11-13 o’clock) and evening (17-20 o’clock) exercise groups, the morning (7-9 o’clock) ) The BMI and waist circumference of the exercise group were lower, respectively 27.4 and 95.9cm, the midday group were 28.4 and 97.9cm, and the evening group were 28.2 and 97.3cm.
Even further adjustments for diet quality and caloric intake did not change this difference.
Moreover, BMI and waist circumference decreased with increasing activity in the morning exercise group, regardless of whether the amount of exercise reached the recommended 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or equivalent exercise per week.
However, in the noon and evening exercise groups, after the amount of exercise reached the recommended amount, the BMI and waist circumference did not decrease with the increase in exercise level.
02 Helps continue to “burn fat”
For the same exercise, why is the effect of fat loss and waist circumference more obvious when exercising in the morning?
Researchers believe that in addition to the influence of the biological clock, it may also be related to fasting.
Some studies have found that morning exercise on an empty stomach can increase the amount of fat oxidized within 24 hours after exercise (fat is oxidized and metabolized, which can be simply understood as “fat burning”), while exercise after lunch and dinner does not bring this effect. Variety.
And due to excessive oxygen consumption after exercise, a single morning exercise can increase the metabolic rate for several hours.
Relatively speaking, people who choose to exercise in the morning are more likely to do so on an empty stomach.
Of course, this study is only a cross-sectional study and cannot clarify the causal relationship between exercise time and weight control. More clinical studies are needed to clarify the causal relationship and find the relevant mechanism of action.
Reminder: If you have hypoglycemia, it is best not to do morning exercise on an empty stomach.
Exercise at different times has different effects for men and women
Another study further broke down when exercise is more effective by gender for people with a healthy weight.
The researchers recruited 56 adults with healthy weight and exercise habits, including 30 women and 26 men, and divided them into two groups:
Morning exercise group: 6:30-8:30 exercise
Evening sports group: 18:00-20:00 sports
Whether exercising in the morning or evening, they complete 12 weeks of RISE training under the guidance of professional coaches.
R (resistance training) resistance training
I (interval training) interval training
S (stretching training) stretching training
E (endurance training) endurance training
Except for the slightly longer endurance training, the other three types of training time are all 60 minutes, exercise 4 days a week, arrange one type of training every day, and have two days off on Wednesday and weekends.
Participants were given a snack of approximately 250-300kcals 1 hour before the start of resistance training and (sprint) interval training. Keep an empty stomach before stretching and endurance training, but drink water and electrolyte drinks.
At the same time, nutritionists provide carefully matched diets to ensure a daily protein intake of 1.1-1.8g/kg.
01 Fat loss effect
Only 84% of people persisted in completing the trial after 12 weeks. It seems that it is really difficult to persist in exercising…
At the end of the experiment, the researchers separated men and women and compared the differences in exercise effects at different times.
Exercising in the morning and evening can reduce body fat, belly and buttock fat for both men and women.
But for women, morning exercise was more effective at reducing body fat, especially abdominal fat. Their abdominal fat was reduced by an average of 10%, while women in the evening exercise group only lost 3%.
There is no significant difference in the fat loss effect of men at different times in the morning and evening.
02 Improve muscle function
Exercising in the morning and evening can improve the muscle function of the upper and lower limbs of both men and women. (As long as you practice, it will be effective!)
However, exercising at night is more helpful for women in improving upper limb muscle strength (39% vs. 8%, PM vs. AM), strength (16% vs. 9%, PM vs. AM) and endurance (40% vs. 25 %, PM vs. AM); morning exercise is more beneficial for women to improve lower limb strength (13% vs. 4%, AM vs. PM).
There is also no difference in improving muscle function between men exercising in the morning and evening.
03 Improve mood and appetite
In men, the effect of exercise on improving mood is very obvious. No matter morning or evening, exercise can improve mood disorders and relieve tension, depression, anger, confusion and other emotions. Exercise at night has a very significant effect on reducing men’s fatigue (55% vs. 0%, PM vs. AM).
For women, the effect of exercising at night on improving mood is more obvious. At the same time, exercising at night can also increase the feeling of fullness and reduce food intake. This is good news for women in the fat loss period~
Summarize
As long as you ensure regular and appropriate amounts of exercise, it will help reduce fat and belly.
for women
- If you want to lose fat and belly, it may be better to exercise in the morning;
- If you want to improve the strength and endurance of your limbs, you can try training your legs in the morning and your arms in the evening;
- If you want to improve your mood and control your appetite, the effect of exercise at night may be more obvious.
for men
There is not much difference in the fat loss effect of exercising in the morning and evening, but if you want to relieve the fatigue after a day’s work, exercising in the evening is a more effective and healthier way than drinking a drink or playing games~
When do you usually exercise?
