Work out at this time of day to burn the most fat: scientists

Can’t decide what workout class to sign up for? Well, this may help you decide when to get moving.

Scientists believe that they have discovered the best time of day to work out to burn fat.

A study recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences peer-reviewed journal found that exercising in the morning can boost fat metabolism.

Researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark studied two groups of mice — one that performed high-intensity exercise in the morning and one in the evening.

Exercising at different times of the day can affect the body in different ways as nearly all cells in the body and their biological processes rely on circadian rhythms.

The researchers analyzed the biological processes and various markers for fat metabolism in both groups of mice to see how their bodies reacted to the physical activity.

They found that the mice who exercised in the morning on an empty stomach had a higher metabolic rate than those who worked out in the evening.

”Our results suggest that late morning exercise could be more effective than late evening exercise in terms of boosting the metabolism and the burning of fat, and if this is the case, they could prove of value to people who are overweight,” said Professor Juleen R. Zierath from the department of molecular medicine and surgery and the department of physiology and pharmacology at the Karolinska Institutet.

Those who exercised in the morning had a higher metabolic rate and burned more fat. Getty Images

Exercising provides a wide array of benefits including improving brain health, reducing the risk of disease, strengthening bones and muscles and managing a healthy weight.

The US Department of Health and Human Services advises that adults perform 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity and two days of muscle-strengthening activity a week but does not give recommendations for what time of day to exercise.

”The right timing seems to be important to the body’s energy balance and to improving the health benefits of exercise, but more studies are needed to draw any reliable conclusions about the relevance of our findings to humans,” Professor Zierath stated.

Once you register for a morning workout class, you should stick with it. Previous research has shown that exercising at the same time of day helps to achieve a more effective workout.

Researchers from the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University discovered that people who set the same time of day for their workouts spent notably more time working out per week than people who set random times of day for exercise.

But whether you’re an early bird, night owl or like to switch it up, the most important thing is that you get yourself moving.

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