2 ways morning workout the benefits of exercise 

Doing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), such as brisk walking or jogging, any day promotes well-being and affects weight management. That said, two new studies looking at how exercise at different times of the day affects the benefits of MVPA show that exercising in the morning may be slightly more beneficial than working out during the day.



Morning MVPA is associated with better weight management

The first studyis based on a cross-sectional analysis of 5,285 individuals who regularly engage in moderate-intensity physical activity in the morning (n = 642), afternoon / evening (n = 2,456), or in the evening (n = 2,187).


The health department found that people who did at least 150 minutes of daily (ie every day) MVPA in the morning every week had a lower BMI and waist circumference than in the afternoon. or an evening group that does the same amount of cardio throughout the day.


"Diurnal patterns of MVPA influence the relationship between MVPA and obesity. Future studies allow further research on the promising role of MVPA in weight management," wrote the authors at the end of the paper. The authors note that randomized clinical trials and future studies are needed to confirm the initial findings of this study. Specific data only provide a snapshot of a short period of time and do not reflect the effects of various lifestyle factors over time.


This cross-sectional analysis of the association between early morning MVPA and better weight management is only correlational, not causal. It is possible that "lightweights" who exercise regularly earlier in the day have a more predictable schedule than "night owls," and other lifestyle factors and daily habits outside of their cardio days may affect their weight management excellence.


Morning activity significantly reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes

A second study published on September 20 (Tyan et al., 2023) found a relationship between different types of physical activity in the morning, afternoon, or evening and people's risk of type 2 diabetes.


The study, conducted by a team of researchers associated with Harvard University and Harvard Medical School, used data from 93,095 UK Biobank participants without type 2 diabetes who wore accelerometers to monitor their daily movements for a week. Seven years later, researchers followed up to see who developed type 2 diabetes.


Accelerometer data converted into metabolic equivalents of exercise (MET) divided into three daily categories: morning (06:00–12:00 h), afternoon (12:00–18:00 h), and night (18:00–24) . : 00 h)..


The researchers found that vigorous morning physical activity, such as brisk walking, was associated with a 10 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes, while afternoon exercise was associated with a 9 percent lower risk. Type 2 diabetes. Light or moderate physical activity in the afternoon is not associated with a significant reduction in the risk of type 2 diabetes.


Vigorous physical activity (VPA) is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes at all times of the day. Tian et al. Summing up these results, "vigorous activity is associated with lower risk regardless of the workday".


In addition, other lifestyle factors have less influence on the association between daily activity time and diabetes risk when people engage in vigorous exercise every day. "Incorporating lifestyle factors into the VPA model did not significantly change the model replacing morning, afternoon, and evening associations," the authors explained.



Morning exercise only gives a "slightly" greater benefit

Finding time to exercise at any time of the day can be difficult. If you're not an "early bird" or a "nightmare" who likes morning exercise, or if your morning schedule is too chaotic for exercise, don't worry.


On average, the increased benefits of working out in the morning are small compared to getting the same amount of exercise later in the day. For example, morning activity only increased the risk of type 2 diabetes by 1 percent (9 percent versus 10 percent) over afternoon activity.


If you want to optimize the long-term health benefits of cardiovascular exercise, you need to be moderately active throughout the week and maintain your motivation to exercise vigorously several times a week (whatever time of day should fit into your schedule).


Disclaimer: This blog post is not intended as medical advice. Always talk to your healthcare provider before starting any exercise regimen, especially vigorous physical activity that significantly increases your heart rate.