I meant to post this a few weeks ago, but never got around to it. I did some experiments to confirm that post-dinner exercise has special effects.
Here’s what I found over the course of a few experiments. If I exercised before breakfast in the morning (fasted), then I would end up eating more later in the day, effectively canceling out the effects of this exercise for weight loss.
But, if I exercised after dinner, and after a normal day of eating, then this exercise would create a calorie deficit so to speak when I went to bed. The obvious next question was, did I eat more the next day to counteract this previous deficit?
The answer is no. If anything, I would end up eating a little less the day after my previous evening exercise. Why, I’m not sure but I will speculate. If you exercise post-dinner and then don’t eat, your body is forced to burn fat. So when you wake up the next morning, your body is still in that fat-burning mode (of course you would burn some fat when sleeping anyways, but this seems like an extra gear).
I remember Taubes writing about how exercise doesn’t lead to weight loss. I think it can, but it depends on when you do it. If you exercise after dinner (after your feeding window), you create a deficit with no food coming until the next day.
This equals weight loss from exercise! Try it if you don’t believe me.
Matt,
My Japanese martial art teacher who always told us “to investigate like we were anthropologists”
Was adamant about a 2-3 hour walk every night after dinner ( not sure how realistic that is in our busy lives)
But he talked about the importance of the “exercise” after dinner and in the evening as it related to overall well being.
The guy is in his early 80′s and STILL walks everyday like that……at a pace most people I know can’t even keep up with.
Marc
You’re talking about low intensity cardio exercise right? Lifting weights after a meal right before sleep doesn’t sound like a good idea
Mostly low-level cardio. Though I have tried weights, at least lighter weights, in the evening and it was fine.
Also, this is usually an hour or two after dinner. Doesn’t seem to effect sleep, at least for me.
How can there NOT be a study about this already. It’s the opposite, in a way, training after a 14-16 hour fast (and then having a high carb, high protein meal).
VERY interesting.
FWIW, Clarence Bass thinks that his 45-60 minute walk after dinner is a big part of his remaining at VERY low bodyfat for almost 40 years.
Yep, Clarence walks after dinner and goes to bed early. Two “little” things that I think are really major drivers of health.
As to studies, there is the Bahadori leanness program which is at least similar: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19577377