[Angela Foster] (0:14 - 2:13)
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And that's why I've partnered with Timeline long-term. Get 35% off a one month subscription of MitoPure gummies at Timeline.com forward slash Angela35. That's Timeline.com forward slash Angela35 while the offer lasts. You mentioned there around, I wrote this down, that training in the morning seemed to be better for reducing abdominal fat and helping with fat loss and strength training better for getting stronger in the afternoon. And I think when we look at like the circadian rhythm, we seem to have more strength and power in the afternoon. Fat loss, particularly abdominal fat loss is a big thing for perimenopausal women to stay on top of.

Would that help be helpful then? We talked about the HIIT is helpful, the resistance work. Would moving their workout to the morning be another tool to help with this?

[Stacy Sims] (2:14 - 4:33)
From the literature, it seems, yeah, because I've been digging back in to see about circadian rhythm because we hear about how you feel like you can keep going forever in the evening. And it's like, okay, so what about our circadian rhythm is doing that? Is it a cortisol shift?

What is it? So just reviewing a lot of the training studies and most of them that I've been looking at is taking women who've never exercised and men who've never exercised and putting them in a training plan for 12 to 16 weeks, so three to four months, which isn't a really long time, but it's enough to see changes. And they're looking at women who are either doing high intensity or resistance training in the morning versus the evening and men the same thing.

And it doesn't matter if you're doing a resistance training or high intensity first thing in the morning. It's a stimulus that is reducing abdominal adiposity and visceral fat in women only. In men, there isn't a difference between exercising in the morning or the evening, but for women see greater strength gains in the evening, but more body fat loss, especially abdominal adiposity in the morning.

And when you're reading it, it's like, okay, well, there's circadian rhythm differences between the sexes. So that's one factor. Another is cortisol responses and our appetite hormones.

So we're looking that men have less of our acetylated ghrelin, so our activated hunger hormone at rest than women do. So that has a play in how we shift the body comp. So for looking at women who are training first thing in the morning and they have a higher baseline of our activated hunger hormone to placate that while we're exercising, the body's going to release more free fatty acids.

So there's some really interesting stuff that's coming out about how we're training, when we're training the sex differences through the circadian rhythm. And then we're looking at the strength gains in the evening. This is more of a neuromuscular, faster ability to recruit fibres in the evening for women.

And again, it has to do with how our body's responding as we're getting ready to have a melatonin peak about nine o'clock. So yeah, I can forward you some of the articles that I've been reviewing.

[Angela Foster] (4:33 - 4:55)
Yeah, for sure. That would be really helpful. Yeah.

That would be really helpful. I'd like to dive into those. So when you're talking about that fat loss in the morning, would that mean then that you, if you were going to say, for example, someone who likes to exercise a couple of times a day and they keep it short, would they do something that was more cardio based in the morning and move that strength to the evening?

For example, would they split the way they're doing? Or does it not matter?

[Stacy Sims] (4:56 - 4:57)
It doesn't matter.

[Angela Foster] (4:57 - 5:04)
It doesn't matter. So you say you're doing a resistance workout in the morning, you're just going to get more fat loss benefits than you are strength.

[Stacy Sims] (5:04 - 6:08)
Then if you say, do it, you're still going to, yeah, you're still going to gain strength. But if we're looking to optimise that belly fat loss, then it doesn't matter what you're doing in the morning, you're going to really facilitate that belly fat loss. Mike Ornsby from University of Southern Florida has done some work specifically looking at abdominal adiposity and found that women who just implement resistance training with heavier loads tend to mobilise more abdominal fat.

It's just something that has to do with the myokines that are being released from the skeletal muscle activation and the building of the skeletal muscle that's really having an interplay with the liver to say, you know what, we don't want esterified fatty acids. We want to be able to have those as non-esterified to be able to be used in metabolism, not stored. So there's a definite signal that's coming from the skeletal muscle, either through high intensity work or strength training.

And as Mike has shown, it's the strength training component that's really powerful for mobilising our belly fat.

[Angela Foster] (6:09 - 6:24)
That's really interesting because that's, I mean, I, for example, train in the morning largely because I go with my husband and he commutes and it's just convenient. I go before I take the kids to school and it's not a glamorous, I have a nice gym for the sauna and everything.

[Speaker 3] (6:25 - 6:40)
This is like, he calls it like the prison gym. It's just the place that's open for 24 hours and we go, we get it done. I haven't had any problems with belly fat and it could be just unconscious competence in that area that I've just happened to go at that time of day.

Yeah, yeah.

[Stacy Sims] (6:40 - 6:58)
I used to be a night exerciser and then I started bike racing and everyone would meet first thing in the morning. And then I had a kid and you have to do first thing in the morning. So I've been able to and over the years I've had complete body comp change, but it's not so much of what I've been doing other than changing the time of day that I've been working out.

[Angela Foster] (6:59 - 7:10)
But then I wonder now, would I get better gains in terms of that strength and muscle by training later in the day sometimes? For me, it's like, I don't know. It feels like everything's over by four o'clock.

Just kind of, not going to happen.

[Stacy Sims] (7:10 - 7:20)
I have it in my head sometimes. Oh, I won't go to the strength class this morning. I'll go at 4.30 and then it gets to be like 10 minutes before the strength class. I'm like, no, I got to go because 4.30 rolls around, I'm dead.

[Speaker 3] (7:21 - 7:22)
There's no way. Same here.

[Stacy Sims] (7:22 - 7:30)
So that is, yeah, there's definitely, yeah. It's the consistency. Your body gets used to training in the morning.

Stay with it.

[Angela Foster] (7:30 - 8:54)
I hope today's episode inspired you on your journey to vibrant health and high performance. Make sure you check out the show notes for a summary of all the important links to everything we talked about. And if you enjoyed this episode, hit the follow button and share it with a friend on social media or leave a review over on Apple podcasts.

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This episode explores the scientific nuances of workout timing, specifically tailored to women's health and physiology. The conversation delves into how circadian rhythms, cortisol levels, and appetite hormones like ghrelin influence the body's response to exercise at different times of the day. 
We discuss findings from various training studies, highlighting that while morning workouts are particularly effective for reducing abdominal fat and visceral adiposity in women, afternoon sessions may offer superior strength and powergains due to enhanced neuromuscular recruitment

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:
Training in the morning, regardless of the exercise type (high-intensity or resistance), is notably effective for reducing abdominal fatWomen tend to see greater strength gains and improved neuromuscular fibre recruitment when training in the afternoon or evening.The body’s response to morning exercise is partly driven by a higher baseline of activated ghrelinWhile biology suggests optimal times for specific goals, consistency and sticking to a routine that fits one's lifestyle are ultimately the most important factors for long-term success.