If you’re tackling your diet and exercise routine, but don’t think about when you plan them into the day, you may be missing a trick. That’s because a new study has not only found that time-restricted eating is more effective when combined with high-intensity exercise, but also that the timing of these two approaches could enhance the benefits.
Time-restricted diets limit when, but not what, you eat. In this study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, counted eating in an eight-hour window and then fasting for 16 hours. High intensity functional training (HIFT), on the other hand, combines aerobic and resistance exercise. It’s similar to high-intensity interval training (HIIT), but it’s less repetitive and varies the impacts on the joints.
The research team from the University of Sfax, Tunisia, found that obese women had better body composition and better cardiometabolic health after completing a 12-week program that combined these two methods. Crucially, the exercise took place right after the eating period had ended.
Good cardiometabolic health means that all your systems are working well, reducing your risk of cardiovascular problems like heart attacks and metabolic disorders like diabetes.
Combining exercise (or simply physical activity) and diet is the best strategy for improving metabolic health, regardless of weight loss, said nutritionist Dr. Adam Collins, who was not involved in the study. BBC science approach.
I think this could be further improved by looking at the timing of eating around exercise as well. This study has suggested the impact this can have.
How to improve your weight loss strategy with time-limited eating
For the study, scientists randomly assigned 64 obese women, ages 22 to 42, to one of three programs. These were: time-restricted eating only, high-intensity exercise only, or a combination of both.
The high-intensity exercise elements took the form of three 45-55 minute workouts per week at 5pm (so for those on time-restricted diets, at the start of their fasting). These workouts involved following an instructor to complete eight sets of eight different exercises in sets of 20-30 seconds with 10-second rest intervals.
After the 12 weeks were up, the scientists measured the impacts on cholesterol levels, blood glucose and lipid levels, as well as other markers of cardiometabolic health.
The results? Well, it’s good news if you’re taking any of these three approaches: After 12 weeks, all three groups saw significant weight loss and a decrease in waist and hip circumferences, as well as higher lipid and glucose levels healthy
But those in the combined diet and exercise group saw bigger changes, and the researchers think this approach might be easier to commit to over the long term.
indefinite
Time-restricted eating is relatively noninvasive, and the combined use of exercise and diet can alleviate reliance on one or the other for benefits, Collins said. In terms of sustainability, it can be adapted to be more flexible. Likewise, the frequency, type, and intensity of exercise can be adjusted to maintain benefits.
In addition, people in the exercise-only group and the combined diet-exercise group saw a benefit that the diet-only group did not: improved blood pressure and a better distribution of lean mass and muscle mass skeletal
The researchers note that the study had a small sample size, but say this research could encourage new opportunities to learn more about how diet and exercise can work together to improve health.
The interesting element to me is the fact that the HIFT sessions were done an hour after the eating window and were followed by an extended fast, Collins said. I think this might have exaggerated the metabolic effects, especially in women. This is because the afterburn effect of exercise is not diminished by subsequent nutrition.
The afterburn effect is the phenomenon where your body continues to burn energy after you’ve finished your workout.
Collins added: We have seen in our studies that in women this is more subtle and can be reduced by eating carbohydrates after exercise. Therefore, recovering while “fasting” could be an improvement strategy.
About our expert
Dr Adam Collins is Associate Professor of Nutrition at the University of Surrey. His areas of focus include obesity, exercise nutrition, body composition and energy metabolism as part of weight loss and maintenance of metabolic health. His research has been published in the British Journal of Nutrition; Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism; i Research in Endocrinology.
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