Do exercise provides several metabolic benefits for our body, including increased insulin sensitivity, an improvement in the synthesis of glucose and body weight loss.
This shows how much it is it is necessary and essential to do any type of physical activity, so much so that doctors even establish it as a non-drug therapy for obese patients e diabetics!
But will the time of day you train really matter in relation to the benefits granted to your health?
Understanding the ideal time, whether it is morning, afternoon or evening for the practice of physical activity it is a question recently much discussed by researchers.
If we look at ours biological clock, it makes sense to think that some hours of the day can work better others to achieve specific goals, as it has long been known that the human body undergoes hormonal changes along a circadian cycle (24 hours).
Index
Physical activity vs Times of the day
Several metabolic conditions, including obesity,insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus, result from the adoption of one sedentary lifestyle and excessive energy intake through diet.
Medical guidelines say that a variety of activities must be done to reach a "volume limit" that will result in the related health benefits. But the question that many people ask is:
Is there an ideal time to train?
To answer this question, one study published this year examined whether the time of day you exercise (morning vs. evening) modulates the effects of consuming a high-fat diet on glycemic control and body health markers. metabolism.
To do this, 24 overweight / obese men were selected, who were analyzed at the University of Melbourne, Australia, after consuming a high-fat diet for 11 consecutive days.
The individuals were then divided into three groups: morning training group, evening training group, and no training.
The researchers found that, a short-term high-fat diet in overweight / obese men induced significant changes in the lipid profile of the participants, such as an increase in LDL (the famous "bad cholesterol").
Training time
Regarding the physical training time, it was found that:
- Improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness were similar regardless of training time;
- However, improvements in glycemic control, lipid and metabolic profile (fasting glucose, insulin, cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL cholesterol) were only seen in participants assigned to evening physical training.
Another 2018 study of National Football League (NFL) athletes matches this scenario. The data suggests 
These results appear to be in line with data suggesting prime time is the best time for physical performance.
Researchers are uncovering more details about the connection between exercise efficiency and the time of day.
However, there is not yet enough data to recommend exercises at one time rather than another; scholars say that the evening can be the best time to start training, especially when it comes to subjects suffering from certain metabolic conditions, such as obesity and diabetes, of which physical exercise is an adjunct to a drug treatment .
It must be reiterated that individuality must be respected and for this reason it is ideal professional guidance of a multidisciplinary team!
References:
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American Academy of Sleep Medicine. "NFL teams play better during night games thanks to circadian advantages: New data analysis demonstrates fewer mental errors at night compared to afternoon games." ScienceDaily, 4 June 2018.
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Moholdt, T., Parr, EB, Devlin, BL et al. The effect of morning vs evening exercise training on glycaemic control and serum metabolites in overweight / obese men: a randomized trial. Diabetology (2021).