For women, exercise in the morning may be better if they want to burn fat, while men benefit more from exercising in the evening.
A small study suggests that a morning fitness session is better for women looking to reduce fat and lose inches on their stomachs.
They also see a greater reduction in blood pressure from exercising early in the day.
But men’s blood pressure, bad cholesterol levels, and ability to burn fat seem to benefit more from evening exercise.
Men may also feel less tired when exercising before dinner rather than before breakfast.
The results come from a study of 27 women and 20 men who exercised four times a week.
About half did so between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m.; the rest did so between 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
Dr. Paul Arciero, who led the study from Skidmore College in New York, said, “While both morning and evening exercise offer significant health and performance benefits for women, those looking to lose belly fat and lower their blood pressure should consider the morning.”
The study of relatively fit people aged 25 to 55 found that women who exercised in the morning lost an average of 10 percent of the fat around their waist.
That compared to just 3 percent of the belly fat lost in women who exercised at night.
Although the women generally did not lose weight, they lost belly fat, which can wrap around the body’s internal organs and is bad for health.
Female morning exercisers saw a greater reduction in blood pressure than those who exercised later.
This is thought to have been caused by a reduction in the stiffness of their arteries but may have been caused by morning exercisers with slightly higher blood pressure.
The consolation for night owls, which research shows have difficulty exercising before work, is that women who exercised later in life had greater upper-body strength and strength when asked to lift weights.
Men showed no difference in physical performance based on whether they exercised early or late in the day.
However, they were significantly less tired when they exercised at night, had lower blood pressure, and an analysis of their exhaled breath showed that they burned more fat.
Although men who exercised at night did not have less body fat, the study authors suggest this could happen over a longer period.
Camera Icon Men’s blood pressure, bad cholesterol levels, and ability to burn fat seemed to benefit more from evening exercise. Credit: NDACREATIVITY – stock.adobe.com
All men and women studied were asked to do four weekly exercise sessions for 12 weeks.
These included a resistance training session, a stretching session such as yoga or Pilates, and a sprint training session, which involved doing an exercise such as swimming or running on a treadmill for 35 minutes.
Most sessions lasted an hour, although longer aerobic exercises such as cycling or rowing were included to test endurance.
The people in the study were all given a fixed diet for 12 weeks, so food consumption would not influence the outcomes.
It is well known that exercise affects the sexes differently, especially at.
Women’s hormones and contrasting circadian rhythms may also play a role.
The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, found that, in general, exercise was beneficial for everyone who took part in the study, regardless of when they did it.
The researchers suggest their findings show that women should exercise in the morning to lose fat but in the evening if they want to improve muscle strength.
