Working out early in the morning may increase the health benefits of exercise, research suggests. A study of more than 14,000 people found those who regularly exercised early in the morning were significantly less likely to have coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes or obesity, compared with people who exercised later in the day.
The research looked at health records and heart rate data collected using Fitbit exercise trackers. Study leader Prem Patel, a medical student at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in the US, said: “Any exercise is going to be better than no exercise, but we tried to identify an additional dimension relating to the timing of exercise. If you can exercise in the morning, it seems to be linked with better rates of cardiometabolic disease.”
Regular physical activity is known to reduce risk of conditions including high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity, which in turn increase risk of heart disease.
The study looked for periods of physical activity when participants had an elevated heart rate for 15 minutes or more.
People who frequently exercised in the morning were 31% less likely to have coronary artery disease and 18% less likely to have high blood pressure than those who exercised later in the day.
They were also 21% less likely to have high cholesterol, 30% less likely to have Type 2 diabetes, and 35% less likely to have obesity.
The associations observed were independent of the total daily amount of physical activity.
Exercise between 7am and 8am was associated with the lowest odds of coronary artery disease.
The study was observational so could not prove that the timing of exercise caused the lower risk of health conditions.
Mr Patel added: “In the past, researchers have mainly looked at how much physical activity to do, the number of minutes or the intensity of physical activity.
“Now with one in three Americans having a wearable device, we’re gaining the ability to look at exercise at the minute-by-minute level, and that opens a lot of doors in terms of new analyses.”
The findings were presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session.
Source link
