The Effect of Time of Day on Fat Oxidation in Submaximal Exercise in Overweight Girls

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of time of day (morning and evening) on the rate of fat oxidation and its changes trend in submaximal exercise in sedentary overweight girls. In this semi-experimental study, a practical approach was applied. 15 sedentary overweight female students (mean±SD age, height, weight, BMI and BF%: 23.3 ± 0.9 years, 162.6 ± 6.5 cm, 70.4 ± 4.5 kg, 26.6 ± 1.1 kg/m2 and 33.6 ± 2.2%) filled out a questionnaire and were randomly selected as the sample from eligible participants and divided into two groups: morning (n=7) and evening (n=8) with counterbalance method. The exercise protocol consisted of 60 min. of continuous running on a treadmill with %60 HRmax or about 56%VO2max performed in two sessions of 07:00 AM and 06:00 PM with a 7-day interval. VO2 and VCO2 were measured by gas analyzer system and the rate of fat oxidation per minute was calculated by Frayn stoichiometric equations. Paired t test and analysis of variance with repeated measures were used (P≤0.05). The results showed that the rate of fat oxidation and its changes trend in the evening was significantly higher than morning (P≤0.001). Finally, based on the results of this study, it appears that submaximal exercise in the evening has a higher effect on fat oxidation and helps weight loss.