While there are many things in life that create debate and disagreement, there’s one fact nobody, surely, would argue with – that exercise is good for you.
What we might debate though, is whether there is a better time of day to do that exercise. According to the latest science, there is – especially for women.
A new study published in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology followed a large cohort of people, with an average age of 62 over a six-year period, to see whether the time of day they exercised had a long-term impact on their cardiovascular health.
The results of the study were quite conclusive: “Irrespective of total physical activity, morning physical activity was associated with lower risks of incident cardiovascular diseases.”
Read: How to get enough of the right type of exercise
Drilling further down into the data, the study found that the three-hour window from 8am to 11am to be the cardiovascular sweet spot when it comes to exercise. Conversely, there is also a time window in which exercising might actually elevate the risk of heart troubles.
According to the study: “For the risk of CAD (coronary artery disease), stroke, and ischaemic stroke, a clear pattern is visible in which high relative physical activity during the nightly hours (12pm–6am) was associated with higher risks, and high relative physical activity during morning hours (8–11am) was associated with lower risks.”
For those of you who like to go for a post-midnight run, you might like to rethink your exercise schedule.
Why does the time of exercise matter?
It all comes back to our circadian rhythms – our body clocks. Thousands of years of evolution have hardwired humans to align activities with the time of day.
The lead author of the study, Dr Gali Albalak of Leiden University Medical Centre, explains: “Physical activity is, just like food intake and exposure to light, an important … circadian clock trigger. This means that with these behavioural aspects, we can calibrate our biological clock and the circadian rhythms with each other and our environment.”
Read: Millions at risk of heart attack due to high cholesterol
Night and day form part of that environment, so our bodies are more likely to react positively to exercise in daylight hours.
One notable aspect of the study, which involved more than 86,000 participants, was that the benefits of morning exercise were far more pronounced in women. It found that women who exercised in the early or late morning reduced their risk of CAD by 22 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively.
For men, the benefit of morning exercise was found to be not statistically significant.
Read: Five reasons why you shouldn’t exercise on holiday
Interestingly, the benefit of morning exercise was the same regardless of whether the participants described themselves as a morning person or evening person.
So, does this research mean you should abandon all exercise other than during the morning? No, although if you are able to exercise then, it’s likely to do you more good than harm. For many, though, that’s simply not practical.
Exercise at any time of the day is more than likely going to bring you health benefits. You’re not going to get out of cricket training or your gym session that easily!
What time of day do you usually exercise? Does it make a noticeable difference if you change times? Why not share your thoughts in the comments section below?
I usually do my runs late morning. I occasionally run later in the day, but like to get them done earlier if possible.
I t doesn’t seem to make any difference on any way.
Where are the rest of the comments? Come on everyone – when do you exercise?