@Obese people, exercising at this time every day is healthiest!

Compiled by: Gong Zixin

Fat guys, compatriots!

We can't lose weight without exercise

The prerequisite is to be healthy!

What time do you like to exercise?

Morning, afternoon, or evening?

Researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia followed 30,000 people for nearly eight years and found that doing most of their physical exercise in the evening provides the greatest health benefits for obese people.

Using data from wearable devices to categorize participants' physical activity as morning, afternoon, or evening, the researchers found that those who did most of their moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) between 6 p.m. and midnight had the lowest risk of premature death and death from cardiovascular disease.

How often people engaged in MVPA in the evening, measured as short bouts of 3 minutes or more, also appeared to be more important than their total daily physical activity, according to the study, published April 10 in the journal Diabetes Care.

Dr Angelo Sabag, lecturer in exercise physiology at the University of Sydney, said due to a range of complex social factors, about two-thirds of Australians are overweight or obese, which greatly increases their risk of major cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and stroke, and premature death.

“Exercise is by no means the sole solution to the obesity crisis, but this research does suggest that people who can schedule activity at specific times of day may be best able to offset some of the health risks.”

Study lead author Dr Matthew Ahmadi, a National Heart Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney, also highlighted that the researchers focused on tracking aerobic MVPA lasting three minutes or longer because previous studies have shown a strong link between this type of exercise and blood sugar control and reduced cardiovascular disease risk compared to shorter (non-aerobic) sessions.

"We have no bias towards the type of activity we track, which can range from brisk walking to stair climbing, but can also include structured exercise such as running, occupational labour or even vigorous house cleaning," Dr Ahmadi said.

Although observational, the findings support the authors' initial hypothesis, based on previous research, that people with diabetes or obesity who already experience glucose intolerance late at night might be able to offset some of that intolerance and related complications by engaging in physical activity in the evening.

The researchers used data from the UK Biobank, including 29,836 obese adults aged 40 years and older, of which 2,995 participants were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Participants were divided into morning, afternoon, and evening MVPA based on the majority of time spent doing aerobic MVPA as measured by wrist accelerometers worn continuously 24 hours a day during the first seven days of the study.

The team then linked the health data to track the participants' health trajectories for 7.9 years, during which time they recorded 1,425 deaths, 3,980 cardiovascular events, and 2,162 incidents of microvascular dysfunction.

To limit bias, the researchers accounted for differences in age, sex, smoking, alcohol consumption, fruit and vegetable intake, sedentary time, total MVPA, education, medication use, and sleep duration. They also excluded participants with prior cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, Director of the Charles Perkins Center for the Study of Wearables and senior author of the paper, said the sophistication of research in the wearables field is providing tremendous insights into the activity patterns that are most beneficial to health. “This is a really exciting time for researchers and practitioners in this field, as the data captured by wearable devices allows us to examine physical activity patterns at very high resolution and accurately translate findings into recommendations that can play an important role in healthcare.”

The researchers note that while further research is needed to determine cause and effect, this study suggests that timing of physical activity may be an important component of future obesity and type 2 diabetes management, as well as general preventive health care recommendations.

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