Nutrition Quarterly Summer 2022

diabetes. “In the early morning hours, you have a hormonal profile that would predispose you to better metabolism of fat,” Hackney says. “People naturally have elevated levels of cortisol and growth hormone in the morning—both of which are involved in metabolism—so you’ll ‘draw more of your energy from your fat reserves.’ That can potentially help with weight loss.” Exercising early also helps with weight loss in the sense that it keeps people from being temped by food all day. A study published in Medicine and Science in Sports talked about how they had women walk on a treadmill for 45 minutes. For the rest of the day, they were less distracted by sugary unhealthy foods than they were when they didn’t work out at all. In fact, they even were found to increase their physical activity throughout the day. Another benefit of exercising in the morning is improving your metabolism. Metabolism is like your stamina, or how long you can keep going. It is the process in which your body breaks down the food and water you consume, and turns it into energy. Working out in the morning increases metabolism, so you are burning more calories as you move throughout the day, rather than exercising at night and burning less calories in your sleep. A study was done by Paolo Sassone-Corsi, director of the Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism at the University of California at Irvine, where they put mice on a treadmill in the morning and the afternoon. The researchers looked at changes in muscle tissue, mainly the glucose breakdown and fat burning. They figured out that the time of someone’s workout is critical to the outcome, and working out in the morning is the most beneficial. Sassone-Corsi believes that this is because of a process which relies on a specific protein called HIF1-alpha, which directly controls our internal circadian clock, which is what influences our internal schedule for eating, sleeping, waking up, andmore. She says, “Circadian rhythms dominate everything we do. At least 50 percent of our metabolism is circadian, and 50 percent of the metabolites in our body oscillate based on the circadian cycle. It makes sense that exercise would be one of the things that’s impacted. The last reason that working out in the morning is more beneficial is simply that it gets you ready to take on the day, physically and mentally. It gets you ready physically because, when you exercise it gives you more energy and enhances your alertness, so exercising at night may interfere with your sleep. However, working out in the morning will have the same effect, but making you more energetic for the day. This makes you more alert and able to perform better at a job or at school. Studies have been done to back up these facts. One study published in 2019 in the Journal of Physiology says that it was proven that exercising at 7 a.m. can shift your circadian (internal body) clock earlier, making you more alert in the morning and more tired in the evening, in turn giving you a more restful night and preparing you to wake up and do the same thing again the next day. Another study from a Studies Trusted Source found similar results. They said, “exercise increases your heart rate and body temperature, which means that late night sweat sessions could be hindering your ability to get some shut-eye.” Working out in the morning also gets you ready mentally. When you have a big part of your day over-with by 9 a.m., it gives you a huge ego boost and releases any stress you might have to start the day. It allows you to go into the day fresh and with a clear mind, also giving you one less thing to worry about: finding time to work out. Exercising in the morning overall just makes you happier throughout the day. While there have been many points made about morning workouts being more beneficial for most people, it still depends on the person and their goals. If someone wants a jump-start on the day, to lose weight or control blood sugar, and boost their metabolism, morning exercises are for them. However, if someone is participating in a competitive sport or trying to shave a minute off of their run time, afternoon exercise will be more beneficial. This is because less oxygen, or energy, is used in the afternoon, allowing someone to exercise for longer, more intense amounts of time before they get tired, in turn improving their athletic performance. Most people relate more to the first option, working out in the morning, because it most beneficial to more aspects of someone’s average life. Overall, whichever time you choose to workout, the overall exercise has more benefits then the time, place, or anything else put together. All that really matters is that you get it done. Darby Young is a High School Sophomore and Multi-Sport Athlete. 15 Nutrition Quarterly · Series 3 – Volume 3