Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Fifty Plus (50+)
Reload this Page >

Is morning exercise better for us?

Notices
Fifty Plus (50+) Share the victories, challenges, successes and special concerns of bicyclists 50 and older. Especially useful for those entering or reentering bicycling.

Is morning exercise better for us?

Old 01-10-23, 02:32 PM
  #26  
RH Clark
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 902
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 522 Post(s)
Liked 449 Times in 246 Posts
Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy
For many years on this forum there's been a relatively constant message that burning a higher proportion of fat during moderate effort cycling will make you a faster cyclist over a long course. Chapple wrote a whole book about it. While many riders suggest that your percentage of fat burned will increase no matter what if you ride enough. there's always been a suggestion that going out fasted for a couple hours will get you the most progress in the least time. I think both those things are true. The study in the OP confirms that latter to my satisfaction, though I think the bump would have been even larger had the ride been for 2 hours. I've found that 2 hours on the rollers just below VT1 really does the job for me. I can't do that outdoors - it's too hilly here.
I've done a lot of cycling while fasted. I've spent whole days cycling National Forest gravel roads on a Surly LHT while only consuming any calories 2 out of every 24 hours. I did it to lose weight. I lost 180 lbs in about 16 months. For the first 2 years I was zero sugar except maybe 2 servings of fruit every week, very low carb, and 100% whole food. I didn't and still don't know jack about intensity levels. I went as hard as I could while trying not to kill my old fat self and I got better as time passed. I think it's a good strategy to lose weight. It might not be the best strategy to maximize fitness over the long term. Then again it could be considering all the benefits of fasting in general when combined with good nutrition and good rest, etc.
RH Clark is offline  
Old 01-10-23, 05:15 PM
  #27  
Biker395 
Seat Sniffer
 
Biker395's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: SoCal
Posts: 5,617

Bikes: Serotta Legend Ti; 2006 Schwinn Fastback Pro and 1996 Colnago Decor Super C96; 2003 Univega Alpina 700; 2000 Schwinn Super Sport

Mentioned: 18 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 938 Post(s)
Liked 1,967 Times in 562 Posts
Regardless of whether there is data to support it or not, exercising first thing in the day does wonderful things for my mood the rest of the day. I also find it easier to do it straight off rather than wait for other things to get in the way.
__________________
Proud parent of a happy inner child ...

Biker395 is offline  
Old 01-11-23, 04:20 PM
  #28  
bblair
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Posts: 726

Bikes: Lynskey R230, Trek 5200, 1975 Raleigh Pro, 1973 Falcon ,Trek T50 Tandem and a 1968 Paramount in progress.

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 365 Post(s)
Liked 373 Times in 225 Posts
I understand what you are saying. However, what I see is that the far right, 6:00 is 24 hours after the morning exercise group. But only 8 hours after the later group. I would have liked to see the horizontal axis be time elapsed after excercise, not clock time.

And admitedly, I did not read the Materials and Methods section of the study, but it appears that the morning group had much more intense exercise. Why is this? Where the groups not matched? Was this double blinded?

I am not saying you are wrong, but there are so many variables here that IMO any meaningful conclusions are difficult.
bblair is offline  
Old 01-11-23, 04:43 PM
  #29  
terrymorse 
climber has-been
Thread Starter
 
terrymorse's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Posts: 7,007

Bikes: Scott Addict R1, Felt Z1

Mentioned: 10 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3340 Post(s)
Liked 3,439 Times in 1,738 Posts
Originally Posted by bblair
And admitedly, I did not read the Materials and Methods section of the study, but it appears that the morning group had much more intense exercise.
All groups exercised at the same intensity (50% of VO2max), for the same amount of time (1 hour).

The spike you see for the early morning exercisers is fat oxidation, not exercise intensity. Measured energy expenditure was virtually identical for all 3 exercise times, as seen below:



Energy expenditure for no exercise (white), morning exercise (blue), afternoon exercise (green), and evening exercise (red).
__________________
Ride, Rest, Repeat. ROUVY: terrymorse


terrymorse is offline  
Old 01-11-23, 06:43 PM
  #30  
MikeWMass
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: western Massachusetts (greater Springfield area)
Posts: 699

Bikes: Velosolex St. Tropez, LeMond Zurich (spine bike), Rotator swb recumbent

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 67 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 67 Times in 32 Posts
I used to exercise in the evening.
Then we had a kid and I got a new job, by the time I got home it was supper time (or later) and wife had enough of child care.
I told myself I would start again when things settled down.
Finally realized they never would, so started getting up at 4 so I could exercise regularly, and have been doing so for almost 30 years.

Several years ago there was a study that looked at people who exercised in the morning versus after work (late afternoon/early evening). The upshot was that the PM exercised to somewhat higher intensity, but the AM were much more consistent.

I like exercising early in the morning, it is quiet, and I get my thoughts together for the rest of the day.
Now that I am retired, I can even have a leisurely breakfast and read the paper.
MikeWMass is offline  
Old 01-12-23, 08:22 AM
  #31  
bblair
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Posts: 726

Bikes: Lynskey R230, Trek 5200, 1975 Raleigh Pro, 1973 Falcon ,Trek T50 Tandem and a 1968 Paramount in progress.

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 365 Post(s)
Liked 373 Times in 225 Posts
Thanks for the clarification. I did not see that in the original post.
bblair is offline  
Old 01-16-23, 10:29 PM
  #32  
stardognine
Partially Sane.
 
stardognine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Sunny Sacramento.
Posts: 3,562

Bikes: Soma Saga, pre-disc

Mentioned: 22 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 972 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 643 Times in 468 Posts
Originally Posted by John E
I like to bike for exercise in the mornings to avoid peak traffic and peak sunlight intensity. I have so far avoided skin cancer, despite my Celtic complexion, my freckled "redhead skin," as my father called it.
I had a half-Welsh grandma, and 2/3 of my sisters got that red hair & pale freckly skin. I've always been fairly tan for a white guy, and rarely burn even a little, even in bad situations. 😋😉

When you're touring, you're usually up & moving pretty early, and getting excercise even if you're just walking your bike. I think it gets you in the right mindset, for whatever happens that day. Like an early bird gets the worm kind of thing. 😎
stardognine is offline  
Old 01-17-23, 05:26 PM
  #33  
rekmeyata
Senior Member
 
rekmeyata's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: NE Indiana
Posts: 9,183

Bikes: 2020 Masi Giramondo 700c; 2013 Lynskey Peloton; 1992 Giant Rincon; 1989 Dawes needs parts; 1985 Trek 660; 1985 Fuji Club; 1984 Schwinn Voyager; 1984 Miyata 612; 1977 Raleigh Competition GS

Mentioned: 10 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1111 Post(s)
Liked 243 Times in 196 Posts
That's all well and good except for people that have work normal job hours. I don't happen to like getting up at 3am, ride my bike, get home, shower then go to work, yuk! so until I retire in about 8 months I ride when I can, after work, on weekends I'll ride in the morning though.
rekmeyata is offline  
Old 01-18-23, 05:37 PM
  #34  
Calsun
Banned
 
Join Date: Mar 2021
Posts: 1,280
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 608 Post(s)
Liked 382 Times in 288 Posts
On the roads around where I live it is far safer in the mid to late morning when there are fewer motorists around who are likely to be paying more attention to their smartphone than to the road. In cities I prefer to ride after 7 PM to have minimal traffic and it is much easier to see when a car is approaching from the rear or the sides.
Calsun is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.