If you typically work out in the morning, a new study suggests you may have a lower risk for high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and other contributors to heart disease compared with people who exercise later in the day.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThis study suggests that when\u00a0you exercise may matter, not just\u00a0how much\u00a0you exercise,\u201d says senior study author Prashant Rao, MBBS<\/a>, a sports cardiologist and physician-scientist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, both in Boston.<\/p>\n The research, which will be presented at the American College of Cardiology\u2019s Annual Scientific Session later this month, relied on minute-level heart rate data from nearly 15,000 adults. Dr. Rao says this allowed his team to capture long-term, real-world exercise data with much more detail and accuracy.<\/p>\n Early Morning Workouts Are Linked to Better Cardiometabolic Health<\/p>\n The study analyzed health records and Fitbit heart rate data collected over a year. Researchers identified periods when participants had an elevated heart rate for 15 minutes or more to track physical activity. Then they grouped participants into categories based on the time of day exercise occurred.<\/p>\n Researchers compared these timing groups with health data including rates of high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease, and other cardiovascular health problems. They adjusted the findings to account for differences in age, sex, income level, total activity level, sleep, alcohol use, and smoking status.<\/p>\n The results showed that compared with adults who exercised later in the day, those who worked out in the morning were:<\/p>\n These risk reductions were independent of how much exercise people actually got. Adults who exercised between 7 and 8 a.m. had the lowest odds of coronary artery disease.<\/p>\n Aubrey Grant, MD<\/a>, a sports cardiologist at MedStar Health in Washington, D.C., who wasn\u2019t involved with the research, says the results suggest that \u201ctiming may be a previously underappreciated lever in cardiometabolic risk reduction.\u201d<\/p>\n He adds that wearable technology is giving scientists more granular exercise data, which \u201copens a more nuanced conversation about how physical activity interacts with the body\u2019s daily rhythms.\u201d<\/p>\n Exercise Timing Is a \u2018New Frontier\u2019<\/p>\n A main limitation of the research is that it\u2019s an observational study, \u201cso we can\u2019t establish causality,\u201d Rao says. Because participants weren\u2019t randomized to exercise at different times, the results only show a link, not that earlier exercise directly leads to the observed health benefits.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile we did our best to adjust for confounders [factors that could muddy the results], timing may still reflect differences in work schedules, socioeconomic factors, or lifestyle patterns that aren\u2019t potentially fully captured in our analyses,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The link between exercise timing and health is a \u201cnew frontier in exercise science,\u201d says Dr. Grant. For decades, research has focused on \u201chow much and how hard\u201d people worked out \u2014 variables that still matter, he says.<\/p>\n But more data on timing is starting to appear. Just this January, for instance, another published study found that older adults who identified as \u201cnight people\u201d had worse cardiovascular health compared with adults who said they were \u201cmorning people.\u201d<\/p>\n [2]<\/p>\n Why Exercise Timing May Lower Cardiometabolic Risk<\/p>\n \u201cThe honest answer is that we do not fully know yet\u201d why this link is appearing, Grant says.<\/p>\n \u201cMorning exercise may align better with circadian<\/a> physiology,\u201d or how bodily functions naturally correspond to the time of day, he says. \u201cCortisol<\/a> peaks early in the day and can prime the body for physical exertion, potentially enhancing metabolic efficiency,\u201d Grant adds.<\/p>\n Exercise is also a natural stimulant. When you work out early, it revs up your bodily systems and energizes you for the day, says Andrew Freeman, MD<\/a>, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver. Dr. Freeman was not involved with the new study.<\/p>\n People who work out earlier may also have healthier lifestyle habits, overall, says Alex Rothstein, EdD<\/a>, an assistant professor of exercise science at the New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you work out earlier in the day, you tend to have fewer excuses to not work out,\u201d and you may exercise more consistently, says Dr. Rothstein, who was not involved with the new research.<\/p>\n Should You Start Exercising in the Morning?<\/p>\n Freeman recommends getting 30 minutes a day of \u201cbreathless physical activity,\u201d including a combination of cardio<\/a> and strength training<\/a>. But if you prefer to work out in the afternoons or have responsibilities preventing you from exercising in the morning, don\u2019t worry.<\/p>\n \u201cIt does not mean people should feel guilty about evening workouts,\u201d Grant says. \u201cIt means that when we counsel patients on optimizing their health, exercise timing is now a legitimate part of that conversation, alongside sleep, nutrition, and stress management.\u201d<\/p>\n If you have flexibility, though, Rothstein suggests exercising in the morning, as it\u2019s less likely that something will interfere with your workout later on, and it may offer extra heart health benefits.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most important message is still:\u00a0Exercise consistently, regardless of timing,\u201d Rao says. However, \u201cTiming may represent a simple, low-cost way to potentially optimize health.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you typically work out in the morning, a new study suggests you may have a lower risk…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":491131,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[6647,102,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-491130","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}