Afternoon exercise best for blood sugar control in those at diabetes risk: Study

It was a retrospective comparative study on 32 adult men who were at risk for or diagnosed with type 2 diabetes performed 12 weeks of supervised exercise training either in the morning (8.00–10.00 a.m., N = 12) or in the afternoon (3.00–6.00 p.m., N = 20). Researchers assessed the before, during, and after 12 weeks of exercise training maximal workload (Wmax) and maximal aerobic capacity (VO2max) during a graded cycling test with ECG monitoring until exhaustion. They used dual X‐ray absorptiometry to assess body composition.

Key findings of the study were:

♦ After 12 weeks, researchers found that compared to participants who trained in the morning, participants who trained in the afternoon experienced better effects on

              • Peripheral insulin sensitivity (+5.2 ± 6.4 vs. −0.5 ± 5.4 μmol/min/kgFFM),

              • Insulin‐mediated suppression of adipose tissue lipolysis (−4.5 ± 13.7% vs. +5.9 ± 11%),

              • Fasting plasma glucose levels (−0.3 ± 1.0 vs. +0.5 ± 0.8 mmol/l),

              • Exercise performance (+0.40 ± 0.2 vs. +0.2 ± 0.1 W/kg) and

              • Fat mass (−1.2 ± 1.3 vs. −0.2 ± 1.0 kg, p = .03).

♦ They also found that exercise training in the afternoon also tended to elicit superior effects on basal hepatic glucose output.

The authors concluded, "Our findings suggest that metabolically compromised subjects may reap more pronounced metabolic benefits from exercise training when this training is performed in the afternoon versus morning".Our findings suggest that the timing of an exercise training session is a crucial environmental cue when aiming to improve blood sugar control in metabolically compromised subjects and elucidates that performing afternoon exercise training might be more optimal than exercising at morning hours

For further information:

https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.14814/phy2.14669