Night Moves

Evening workouts, time slows down, social connections, your recommendations.

The Rundown

Night Moves. A study out of the University of Granada found that when it comes to controlling your blood sugar levels, when you work out is as important as the exercise itself.

Two scientists examined data from 186 overweight and/or obese adults as defined by an average BMI of 32.9. The participants were 47 years old, on average, and wore an accelerometer to track movement and a continuous glucose monitor for two weeks.

The researchers found that those who did more than 50 percent of their moderate to vigorous exercise between the hours of 6 p.m. and midnight had significant reductions in their blood glucose levels that lasted all day, as opposed to those who were sedentary.

Time/Trial. If you ask me how long I’ve been doing an all-out 30 second sprint during a spin class at say, 10 seconds in, I’ll most likely tell you it’s definitely been 30 seconds (and grumble that the instructor should do a better job at keeping time). This sensation of distorted time perception is the focus of a study in the journal Brain and Behavior but the results offer more questions than answers.

The research was led by Andrew Edwards of Canterbury Christ Church University in Britain. He and his team had 33 volunteers do a series of all-out, four kilometer cycling time trials while periodically asking them to estimate the passage of 30 seconds. They found that the effort made the cyclists’ internal clocks faster, which made the efforts feel longer, but when they introduced something they thought might counteract the effect—the presence of a virtual teammate who cycled with them or a virtual competitor who they had to try and beat—the results were not what they expected.

In his article on the study, Outside journalist Alex Hutchinson explains some of the findings. When racing against a competitor, there was no time deviation at 500 or 1,500 meters so the distraction of focusing on a rival eliminated the time effect. However, at 2,500 meters, the time distortion rose to more than 25 percent.

A similar outcome happened when researchers looked at time perception during strength training. A pair of studies published in 2023 examined the effect of isometric knee extensions on time perception. In some instances, pushing harder caused more time dilation, while in others it didn’t matter.

As Hutchinson suggests, the more researchers examine exercise and our perception of time, the more complicated it gets. But the overall conclusions are solid: “time slows down when you’re pushing hard.”

Friends With Benefits. The negative impacts that loneliness and social isolation can have on health have been widely studied. New research from Australia’s Monash University has added to this body of work by examining the importance of socializing for heart health.

The study found that close relationships with family and friends that allow for discussion about personal matters reduce the risk of heart disease by up to 30 percent.

Looking at data from close to 10,000 initially healthy, community-dwelling Australians over 70 years old, the researchers used machine learning models to identify relevant social factors.

Men who were close to three to eight relatives they could call on for help, reduced their cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk by 24 percent and for those who could discuss private matters with their relatives, CVD risk dropped by 30 percent.

For women, living with family, friends or relatives reduced their CVD risk by 26 percent and having three or more friends they could speak to about private matters was associated with a 29 percent reduction.

Extra Point

Watch

Tour de France: Unchained. The series’ second installment follows the teams through the 21 stages of the grueling 2023 tour, with all its crashes, breakaways and triumphant wins. Unchained, season two, is streaming on Netflix.

Sprint. The team behind Drive to Survive turns their attention to track and field in this series that covers the 2023 World Championships to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Athletes including Sha’Carri Richardson, Noah Lyles, and Shericka Jackson are featured alongside other runners from the US, Jamaica, the UK, Ivory Coast, Kenya, and Italy. Sprint premieres July 2 on Netflix.

Listen

Turning Points: Navigating Mental Health. A podcast that features empowering stories from those navigating their mental health and well-being, Turning Points is hosted by clinical social worker Frantzces Lys. Frantzces talks with athletes, scientists, therapists and entrepreneurs as they discuss their mental health journeys.

Read

Learning to Live With Fear. Professional climber Alex Honnold talks about his experience free soloing Half Dome in Yosemite National Park and the key to managing fear in this article for The New York Times (gift link).