Study: Men, Women Benefit From Exercise at Different Times of Day

To reap the benefits of exercise, choosing the best time for various activities is important. Ground Picture/Shutterstock

Though the advantages of exercise are well known, for middle-aged and elderly people, exercise is a particularly essential everyday activity. Physical immunity can decrease with age, leaving one more vulnerable to everything from simple colds to chronic diseases. Exercise helps strengthen immunity and prevent cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other ailments.

To reap the benefits of exercise, choosing the best time for various activities is important. In May 2022, researchers from Skidmore College and California State University published the findings of a study in the journal Frontiers in Physiology. Researchers followed 27 women and 20 men between the ages of 25 and 55, all of whom were highly active and fit. The subjects were given 12 weeks of physical training. They exercised in the morning and evening, one hour per day, four times a week. The exercises were common exercises, including resistance training, sprint intervals, stretching, and endurance training.

The study found that the best time of day to exercise was related to gender.

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For women, exercising in the morning compared to evening exercise resulted in greater reductions in total and abdominal fat, lower blood pressure, and markedly increased lower-body muscle power. Women who exercised in the evening had “significantly greater gains in upper body muscle strength,” power, and endurance—along with improved mood.

Men who exercised in the evening “experienced a significantly greater reduction in systolic blood pressure,” along with fatigue and higher fat oxidation compared to morning exercisers.

The reason there’s a significant difference in exercise results in women may be related to the previous night’s fasting. Research suggests that overnight fasting can increase the utilization of fat during aerobic exercise, and increased resistance exercise prompts the loss of fat tissue.

For men, compared with morning exercise, evening exercise is better for lowering blood pressure (9 percent and more in systolic blood pressure), reducing fatigue (55 percent and more), and weight loss (5 percent and more in fat oxidation). Therefore, exercise time for men should be scheduled in the evening for better weight loss and reduction of risk for cardiovascular disease.

It’s currently unknown why evening exercise for men is more beneficial in lowering blood pressure than morning exercise, but it may be related to the circadian interaction of nighttime exercise and hormonal factors. The significant increase in fat oxidation for men who exercise in the evening could be attributed to the circadian regulation of metabolism, which is at its peak in the late afternoon and could facilitate fat burning.

How to Prepare for Morning and Evening Exercise

In general, morning exercise is often praised as superior because it provides energy in the morning and sets the stage for better productivity throughout the day. When you want to exercise in the morning but your muscles and joints aren’t very flexible, the first thing you need to do is warm up your body so that you can avoid muscle strains or sprains.

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What do you need to prepare for when you exercise at night? You shouldn’t go to sleep immediately after exercise; there should be at least one to two hours between exercise and sleep. That’s because exercise can stimulate the nerves and muscles, and the body needs a process to enter a dormant state after this stimulation. After exercise, rest before bathing and sleeping may help the body better enter the best sleep state.

Choose Exercise Based on Intensity

When exercising, it’s important to consider safety, the correct time, and your favorite sports so that you can have fun while working out. This will help ensure you maintain a regular exercise schedule. It should also be noted that people of different ages and physiques can withstand different intensities of exercise. Therefore, the right exercise should be chosen according to physical condition.

Choose the right exercise with the right intensity for you.

There are three broad exercise intensities: low, moderate, and high. Heart rate usually acts as an indicator to evaluate exercise intensity. The higher the intensity of exercise, the faster the heart rate.

There’s a significant correlation between heart rate and exercise intensity, oxygen uptake, and energy metabolism. Usually, an exercise with a heart rate below 120 beats per minute belongs to low intensity; between 120 and 150 beats per minute belongs to moderate, and between 150 and 180 beats per minute belongs to high intensity. When the heart rate is too fast during exercise and exceeds the maximum tolerance, fatigue and sports injuries are more likely to occur.

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Besides heart rate, other indicators are also used to evaluate exercise, including maximum oxygen uptake, metabolic equivalent, self-fatigue grading scale, etc. You can also evaluate exercise intensity by your own subjective feelings. If you can still talk freely while exercising, that’s a low-intensity exercise; if you have difficulty breathing and must breathe deeply to speak, it’s a moderate-intensity exercise; if you can barely speak and breathe while exercising, it’s a high-intensity exercise.

Choose Exercise for Your Age, Physical Condition

Between the ages of 26 and 45, the human body can easily become obese. That can be for several reasons, including a reduction in physical activity because this stage is a critical period for career development and life is usually stressful during this time, which can contribute to poor habits, including unhealthy eating.

Therefore, to prevent the accumulation of fat and reduce stress, men should focus on muscle strength training, such as push-ups. It’s important to control the intensity and not challenge the body too much.

For women in this age group, it would be appropriate to take up medium- and low-intensity aerobic training in addition to strength exercises, such as yoga, jogging, and swimming.

From 46 to 65 years old, the body’s energy gradually declines, and physical strength and muscle mass begin to decline, too. Therefore, physical exercise should be performed to fight against osteoporosis. Recommended exercises for this stage in life include softball and tai chi, though jogging and strength training remain great ways to maintain fitness.

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In general, people above the age of 65 are less physically active and have less energy. For this group, exercise should focus on improving the quality of life, preventing falls, and improving cardiorespiratory function. Therefore, gentle aerobic exercises, such as walking, tai chi, and square dancing, with low-intensity strength training to strengthen muscles and bones are recommended.

Choose the Exercise You Enjoy

1. Mortality-reducing exercise—racket swinging 

In a 2018 study published in the medical journal The Lancet-Psychiatry, researchers surveyed more than 1.2 million people and found that racket-swinging sports such as badminton, tennis, and table tennis can reduce all-cause mortality by 47 percent.

Swinging exercises can exercise the body’s coordination and various muscle groups, improve cardiorespiratory function, and improve focus and brain health, which can slow down the aging of the brain. It’s recommended these sports are done three to five times each week, with each session lasting between 45 and 60 minutes.

2. Exercises to relieve mental stress—team sports

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Exercise also has an important impact on the mental state, especially when a social component is included. Studies have found that group exercise could improve mood by 22 percent, making it the best exercise for relieving mental stress.

Team sports such as soccer, basketball, and volleyball require people to focus and work together. Team sports are recommended for 45 to 60 minutes at a time, with three to five times per week being optimal.

3. Exercises for weight loss and fat burning—aerobic exercise

Aerobic exercise requires maintaining an adequate oxygen supply during the period of exercise. It’s commonly associated with low- to moderate-intensity exercise, including brisk walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, aerobics, and jumping rope.

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In June 2021, the European Obesity Research Society summarized exercise training recommendations for overweight and obese adults. The recommendation pointed out that for people who want to lose weight and burn fat, at least 150 to 200 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise per week is preferred.

4. Exercises to lower blood pressure—aerobic exercise plus strength training

The overall prevalence of hypertension is on the rise, and a lack of physical activity is one of the main reasons.

In March 2021, the European Association for the Prevention of Heart Disease and the European Society of Cardiology Committee on Hypertension published a consensus on personalized exercise prescriptions for the prevention and treatment of hypertension.

The report states that a combination of aerobic exercise and strength training can be effective for the purpose of lowering blood pressure. The main strength-training exercises include weighted squats, bench presses, jerks, plank supports, and static curls. All of these exercises can work on lowering blood pressure.