Are you a morning songbird, or a night owl?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
We all know exercise is good for your health! Some people do it in the A-M… others prefer night. Does the time of your workout matter?
Enter Paul Arciero from Skidmore College and team. They assigned over fifty people to work out either in the morning or evening. After twelve weeks, they took measurements to evaluate effects on participants’ health, mood, and body. Think blood pressure, cholesterol, fat percentage, and body composition.
Results? All participants showed improved health regardless of the time of exercise. But, exactly how they improved differed based on gender. Women experienced more upper-body strength gains with evening exercise. However, they had MORE stomach fat loss from morning workouts. Evening exercise bettered mens’ cholesterol and blood pressure, and boosted the mood of ALL participants.
In short, when you exercise CAN influence your results! So if you have specific goals, consider the time you work out.
I myself am gonna hit the gym right now… because there’s no time like the present!
Reference: Arciero, P. J., Ives, S. J., Mohr, A. E., Robinson, N., Escudero, D., Robinson, J., … Yarde, A. (2022). Morning Exercise Reduces Abdominal Fat and Blood Pressure in Women; Evening Exercise Increases Muscular Performance in Women and Lowers Blood Pressure in Men. Frontiers in Physiology, 13, 983. https://doi.org/10.3389/FPHYS.2022.893783