Evening exercise may help cut your risk of this
Our tendency to wind down at the end of the day may not be the best thing for our health.
A recent study published by the American Diabetes Association showed that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MPVA) in the evening was associated with a lower risk of mortality, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and coronary microvascular disease (MVD).
The observational study that reviewed data from a study done between 2006 and 2010, and another study between 2013 and 2015, focused on determining the association between the timing of MPVA, mortality, and the incidence of CVD and MVD in adults with obesity and also diagnosed with diabetes type 2.
“We know that exercise is so critically important, and activity of any sort is important, and that’s what the study was looking at,” said Elissa Thompson, MD, a cardiologist with Cape Cod Healthcare Cardiovascular Center in Chatham. “We know that obesity and diabetes mellitus are important factors in your risk of heart attack, stroke and sudden cardiac death, so the question was whether or not there was a better time of day to exercise to reduce those risks while learning more about the interplay of glucose metabolism (how the body breaks down glucose) with these risks.”
The study also showed more about the metabolic abnormalities that go along with being obese and having diabetes or being at risk for diabetes, she noted.
“These abnormalities are a very complex set of metabolic interactions and the interplay between glucose metabolism during the day versus variations in glucose metabolism at night. Your body uses glucose differently at night than it does during the day.”
Observational studies are helpful because they look at how all of these interactions are interconnected, Dr. Thompson said. “We can better understand their interconnectivity, so we can advise patients what to do and give them the best information about physical activity.”
While the study did not state what it recommended for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health lists three types of exercise in this category:
- Light exercise: Walking slowly, standing light work (cooking, washing dishes) fishing, sitting, and playing instruments.
- Moderate exercise: Walking very briskly (4 mph), heavy cleaning (washing windows, vacuuming, mopping), mowing the lawn, bicycling with light effort (10-12 mph), badminton, and tennis doubles.
- Vigorous exercise: Hiking, jogging at 6 mph, shoveling, carrying heavy loads, bicycling fast (14-16 mph), basketball game, soccer game, and tennis singles.
While the study showed the benefits of exercise in the evening, Dr. Thompson cautioned against thinking it lets you off the hook the rest of the day.
“Any activity is better than no activity,” she said. “It is so important to be physically active. Park your car as far away from the entrance to the grocery store as you can. Walk up and down every aisle in the grocery store even if you only need one item. All activity adds up any time of the day. I don’t want patients to think that it is only good to exercise in the evening.”
