Is it effective to do aerobic exercise after meals?

The answer is actually not that black and white. Choosing the right time and intensity is not only useful, but the effect of fat burning and blood sugar control is even better than fasting aerobics when you are hungry. Choosing the wrong one may hurt your stomach and lose muscles, which is totally not worth the gain.

In the past two years, I followed the guide online and climbed the stairs on an empty stomach. Every time I finished the climb, my legs felt weak and I felt nervous. I would always eat snacks secretly at work in the morning. After losing fat and weight for two months, I didn’t move much, and my stomach became sour from time to time. Later, I listened to my personal trainer’s advice and changed to exercising after dinner. I rested for 20 minutes after eating multigrain rice and stir-fried vegetables, then walked briskly around the community for 40 minutes. Occasionally I would ride a shared bicycle for half an hour when I felt good. I lost 4 pounds of body fat in the first month. After going to the hospital for a meal test, my blood sugar was very stable, and I never felt so hungry that I fainted again.

But if you hear someone say that it’s okay to jump right after a meal, don’t believe it. I stepped on this trap last summer. Within 10 minutes of eating a big bowl of cold noodles, I went to Pamela’s aerobics. Just 12 minutes into the dance, I broke out in pain and squatted on the ground in a cold sweat. It took me half an hour to calm down before I dared to walk home slowly. Later, after asking a familiar sports rehabilitation practitioner, I learned that right after eating, the body will allocate most of the blood supply to the gastrointestinal tract to help with digestion. If you do high-intensity aerobics immediately, the blood will go to the skeletal muscles first. Not only will the digestive function be affected, but the stomach with half the food will bounce around. Over time, there is a real risk of gastroptosis. People with chronic gastritis, gastroptosis or insufficient gastric motility should pay more attention.

In fact, there is no unified "optimal interval". It all depends on what you eat and the intensity of exercise you want to do. If you only eat seventy percent full, which is easy to digest, such as vegetables and grains, you can do low-intensity aerobics such as slow walking or Baduanjin after 15 minutes. It will be like slowly cruising around in a car that has just been filled with gas. The fuel will be burned more fully and it will not damage the engine. This intensity of exercise will not only help control blood sugar, but will also not burden the gastrointestinal tract. If you are full after eating hard dishes that are high in oil and sugar, such as hot pot and barbecue, it is best to rest for 1 to 2 hours before doing moderate-intensity aerobic exercise such as jogging or cycling, which will not compromise the fat burning efficiency. If you want to run a half marathon or do high-jump intensity interval training, you have to wait at least 3 hours until your stomach is basically empty before you start.

Many family members of diabetic patients around me have now developed the habit of walking slowly for half an hour with the elderly after meals. It is more reliable than taking any anti-diabetic health supplements. To put it bluntly, there is no absolute "right" or "wrong". You just need to adjust according to your own body feelings. It is comfortable and can be persisted. It is more effective than any fancy theory.