Nevertheless the muscles must still draw blood to function. This causes an uncomfortable bloated feeling as partially undigested food sits in the stomach. For this reason the timing of your meals should have a direct correlation with the timing of your exercise program. It may take as much as 4 hours for a large, heavy meal to pass through the stomach and upper intestines and a small one in 90 minutes to 2 hours. However, mild exercise, such as strolling slowly immediately after eating, is actually thought to aid digestion by increasing the speed of passage of food through the digestive tract.
Climatic conditions are also a factor.
Midday in the summer in southern Arizona is definitely not the time to be outdoors, but it might be perfectly delightful in the winter. Under humid conditions, coupled with heat, early morning before breakfast is probably the best time to exercise. In northern climates, at certain times of the year, it may be too cold to exercise in the morning or evening, so the noon lunch hour may be the best choice. There are some good indoor exercise machines that you can use at home when the weather is unfavorable. Most experts on fitness and exercise agree that an excellent indoor exercise machine is the Nordic Track, which exercises the large leg muscles as well as the upper body.