Some people are more predisposed to fat gain than others. However you have more control than you think, or maybe than you want to admit.

Studies have shown that multiple areas on a person’s DNA (genetic loci) identified by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) increase the susceptibility to obesity in a cumulative manner. That means the more obesity-related factors on your DNA, the more likely you are to accumulate body fat. However, it wasn’t known whether, and to what extent, this genetic susceptibility may be influenced by a physically active lifestyle.

A recent study in Europe examined over 20000 people over a 3.6-year period showed that living a physically active lifestyle is associated with a 40% reduction in the genetic predisposition to obesity.

In this study, the researchers examined the DNA areas that increase obesity-susceptibility in a sample of 20,430 individuals (aged 39-79 y) from the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC)-Norfolk cohort with an average follow-up period of 3.6 y.

A genetic predisposition score was calculated for each individual by adding the body mass index (BMI)-increasing areas. Physical activity was assessed using a self-administered questionnaire. Statistical analysis was used to examine the effects of the genetic predisposition score and its interaction with physical activity on BMI/obesity risk and BMI change over time.

Each additional BMI-increasing area increased the risk of obesity 1.116-fold in the whole population, but significantly more in inactive individuals than in active individuals.

What does this mean?

Some people inherit a predisposition to accumulating body fat than others. Others use genetics as a reason for their excess fat. What this study shows is that even if you are predisposed to getting fatter, if you have an active lifestyle, and exercise regularly and consistently, your chance of getting fat is significantly less.

Add to this the risk-reducing effects of exercise, regardless of body fat, and it makes sense to make exercise a part of your day; every day.

Reference: Li S, Zhao JH, Luan J, Ekelund U, Luben RN, et al. (2010) Physical Activity Attenuates the Genetic Predisposition to Obesity in 20,000 Men and Women from EPIC-Norfolk Prospective Population Study. PLoS Med 7(8): e1000332. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000332

The best time of the day to exercise is the time that is most convenient for you and you are most likely to do. There is no point trying to exercise at a time that just doesn’t suit your routine.

When I was competing in triathlons I used to exercise after work, however once my second son arrived getting out in the afternoon became too hard. (With just one I could take him with me in a running stroller but two didn’t fit.)

I tend to exercise mostly in the morning and I often recommend people give early morning exercise a try.

Here are some reasons morning is the best time to exercise.

1. Many people believe that early morning exercise before breakfast burns more body fat than after eating later in the day.  Although there is still some debate, the evidence is growing that doing aerobic or cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach is good for fat loss. The argument is that after an overnight 8-12 hour fast, your body’s stores of glycogen are reduced and you burn more fat when glycogen levels are low.
Eating breakfast causes a release of insulin which interferes with the mobilization of body fat. Less insulin is present in the morning; so more body fat is burned when exercise is done in the morning.
There is less carbohydrate (glucose) in the bloodstream when you wake up after an overnight fast. With less glucose available, you are likely to burn more fat.

2. If you eat breakfast immediately before exercising, you have to burn off what you have just eaten first before tapping into stored body fat (and insulin is elevated after a meal.)

3. When you exercise in the morning, it raises your metabolism from it’s lowest and it stays elevated for a period of time after the workout is over. If you exercise in the evening, you burn calories during the session, but you don’t get the same advantage of the “afterburn” effect because your metabolic rate drops dramatically as soon as you go to sleep.

4. Morning exercise gives you a feeling of accomplishment and makes you more productive the rest of the day.
Morning exercise “energizes” you and “wakes you up” by turning off melatonin (the sleep hormone) and turning on serotonin (the feel good hormone).

5. There is some evidence that morning exercise may help regulate your appetite for the rest of the day. You’re also more likely to make better eating choices if you have already done your exercise for the day.

6. Your body’s circadian rhythm adjusts to morning routine, making it easier to wake up at the same time every day.
You’re less likely to skip your workout when it’s out of the way early. After work there are more demands likely to get in the way, like working back late or you just feel too tired or someone invites you for a drink!

7. You can always “make time” for exercise by setting your alarm a bit earlier in the morning.

Getting into the habit of morning exercise takes a while, and even then some mornings can be a bit of a struggle to get out of bed (especially when it is cold).  For all the reasons above, however, I recommend you give it a try.

For fat loss, fitness, lifestyle and mental health, early morning exercise is a good habit to develop.

Or do you find it hard to eat a healthy breakfast?

Here’s another good reason to do at least one and preferably both.

Starting your day with something healthy and good for yourself, makes you feel good about taking healthy action and, importantly, it makes it less likely that you’ll fall off the wagon and make less healthy choices later in the day.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that once you’ve started the day with a healthy choice you are less likely to undo the hard work by making a poor choice later in the day.

Whether it is exercising first thing, meditating or eating breakfast doesn’t matter. The key is to make the first choice of the day a healthy one. Such a choice gives you self-discipline that lasts well into the day.

While this is only a small thing, all the little things add up to making a life of healthy habits. And its the collection of all the little things that make the most difference in the long term.

So next time you are going out that for a meal at night, make sure you do some exercise early in the day. It might just give you the strength to hold back on that extra serve or last drink.

And why not make sure you do some exercise early on Christmas morning (if you haven’t got young children), just to give you that added will-power when you confront Christmas dinner!

Wishing you a merry Christmas.

So, if you have some reservations about weight training or are still confused about what the benefits here are some facts about weight training.

Weight Training done correctly helps reduce reduce fat and improves health risk

Both weight training and aerobic exercise, if done correctly and at a high enough intensity, release fatty acids into the blood stream and improve insulin resistance. Weight training has the advantage in that it increases lean body mass which helps improve insulin resistance even more and increases metabolism even when you are not exercising.  The research evidence to date does not demonstrate the effectiveness of resistance training for weight loss.  It does however increase the loss of fat and increase fat-free mass which in the long term is advantageous to managing body fat.  Even without any change in weight or body fat, health risk is improved with resistance training. 

Strength training can be done in a short amount of time

Many people think you need to spend hours ‘pumping iron’ to get benefits from weight training. If you work efficiently and focus on the major muscle groups, you can complete a whole body workout in a short period of time. There are some fitness professionals who say you only need to spend about 10 minutes. I’ve done workouts of about this length and if you work hard and fast it can be done.

You don’t need to go to a gym or buy expensive equipment

Not having the ‘right’ equipment is a common excuse for not doing strength training. You can get a good strength session using just your own body weight. If you want to add more resistance, a pair of adjustable dumbbells is certainly enough to get stronger and maintain your muscle tissue.

Strength training is a good weapon against osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a major health risk for many adults. Strength training puts stresses on the bones and it is this stress that encourages the bones to get stronger and denser. Unlike aerobic exercise, which tends to be the same movement repeated over and over, strength training puts a lot of different stresses on different bones. This helps to improve the density of a range of bones in the body.

You won’t get ‘big and bulky’ like a body builder

Many people, especially women are fearful of looking like a body builder if they do weight training. Unless you are doing hours and hours of training, eating a very high protein, high energy diet, and probably taking anabolic steroids, you won’t get a physique like a body builder. If you do two or three strength training sessions a week you will probably see some increase in muscle size and you will look more ‘toned’. Females especially won’t ‘bulk up’ as they have less testosterone than men.

Strength training is the most efficient choice of exercise and I strongly recommend you add some to your exercise routine. A couple of short sessions each week is all it takes to maintain your strength and muscle mass.