In a new study, researchers found that the timing of exercise can play a big role in successful weight loss.
They found that people who had consistency in the time of day that they exercised could successfully lose weight and maintain their weight loss.
The research was conducted by a team from the Brown Alpert Medical School.
In the study, the team examined 375 adults in the National Weight Control Registry.
These people performed moderate‐ to vigorous‐intensity physical activity at least two days every week.
The exercises were done in the early/late morning, afternoon, or evening.
The team found that people who have successfully maintained weight loss showed consistency in the time of day that they exercised.
These people tended to do exercise four days a week, and they were more likely to achieve the national physical activity guideline compared with inconsistent exercisers.
Almost half of these people chose to do exercise in the morning.
They found that being consistent in the timing of physical activity was linked to higher physical activity levels, regardless of whether people exercised consistently during the morning, afternoon, or evening.
The team says that greater consistency was related to greater exercise performance among all participants and that consistency of exercise may improve weight loss outcome.
It is important that future work can determine whether increasing consistency in the time of day that planned and structured physical activity is performed can help people achieve and sustain higher levels of physical activity.
It is also important to know whether there is a specific time of day that is more advantageous for people who have initial low physical activity levels to develop a physical activity habit
The lead author of the study is Leah Schumacher, Ph.D. of the Brown Alpert Medical School.
The study is published in the journal Obesity.
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