Abstract

Regular exercise training improves body composition, blood lipid profiles and exercise adaptation. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of exercise training at different times of day on body composition, blood lipids, stress hormones and nutrient intakes. Twenty four male graduate students carried out this experiment. The subjects were divided into three groups; morning exercise group, evening exercise group and control group. Two exercise groups performed running and muscular resistance training at mid intensity for 12 week periods. Body composition, blood lipid profiles, blood cortisol, ACTH and nutrient intakes were analyzed prior to, midway and after training. There were significant differences about interaction between different exercise times and training periods in plasma TG and HDL-C of the evening exercise training (p < 0.05). Also the evening exercise group was showed the decreasing of TC after training (p < 0.05). No significant differences about interaction between different exercise times and training periods were shown in body composition, stress hormones and nutrient intakes in the three groups. But evening exercise training decreased body fat (%) and blood ACTH (p < 0.05). Also the increasing of carbohydrate intakes was shown by the evening exercise training (p < 0.05). In contrast, morning exercise group indicated a decrease of body fat (%) after 6 week training (p < 0.05), but this effect was not maintained after 12 weeks of training. These results suggested that regular evening exercise is more effect than morning exercise from the viewpoint of improving body composition, blood lipids, nutrient intakes and exercise adaptation.

• Keywords: different times of day; exercise training; blood lipids; stress hormone; nutrient intakes