Exercising late in the morning may be best for burning fat, as the time of physical activity affects its metabolism, Swedish scientists report.
In laboratory experiments, they found that a group of mice that exercised just as their natural range of motion began increased their metabolism much more than when they exercised during the hours they would normally rest.
These findings suggest that exercise in the late morning is more effective than exercise in the late afternoon for stimulating metabolism and burning fat. Therefore, morning exercise may be useful for those who want to lose extra pounds, said supervising researcher Dr. Juleen Zierath, professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine at Karolinska University.
The new findings were recently published in the scientific journal PNAS. As the researchers explain, physical activity at different times of the day affects the body in different ways. And this, because biological processes depend on the circadian rhythms of the cells.
The circadian rhythms of the cells are the 24-hour cycle that is part of the body's biological "clock".
The new research
With this in mind, researchers wanted to determine what time of day the body burns more fat. So they measured the body fat in the mice after exercise at two different times of the day.
The first was during the early active phase and the second during the early resting phase of the animals. The corresponding periods in humans are late morning and late afternoon respectively.
The scientists also looked at various indicators of fat metabolism in the animals' blood. They also analyzed their genes to see which were active in adipose tissue after exercise. The exercise performed by the animals was high intensity (running).
the findings
As their measurements showed, late morning exercise increases the expression of genes associated with:
- The breakdown of adipose tissue (fat)
- Thermogenesis (heat production)
- Cellular function in adipose tissue that indicates an increased metabolic rate
These effects were not observed with exercise in the late afternoon. Furthermore, they were independent of food intake.
"Correct timing appears to be important for the body's energy balance. It is also important for exercise to provide health benefits," emphasized Dr. Zierath. "However, further studies are needed to verify our findings in humans."
Source: iatropedia.gr