The best time to workout to boost your heart and lung health may be in the morning, researchers say.
The reason may be linked to our circadian rhythms, or the body’s natural 24-hour clock. The circadian clock helps to regulate certain functions, including the release of hormones and our core temperatures. That indicates that the time of day you’re most active could impact how well you perform, Dr. Karyn Esser, the chair of the University of Florida College of Medicine’s Department of Physiology and Aging, said, according to Health.com.
In older adults, “more rhythmic activity behavior and earlier time of peak activity were associated with better cardiorespiratory fitness and walking energetics,” a group of international scientists said late last month.
Walking energetics refers to how well the body utilizes energy when you’re getting your steps in.
Esser was the senior author of the findings published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
She also noted that when you work out could shift your internal clock or keep it on a schedule. Although, people have a tendency to be more alert at certain times of the day. This is known as your chronotype, or the natural preferences of the body for wakefulness and sleep, according to The Sleep Foundation.
To reach these conclusions, they examined the health data of 799 adults from the Study of Muscle, Mobility and Aging. The patients, who wore wrist accelerometers over a week to measure their physical activity, had an average age of 76 years. The patients also underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing.
The authors also found that working out at the same time each day was associated with better health outcomes.
Still, more research is needed to understand this relationship.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity a week, and two days of muscle-strengthening activity. That will help to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, as well as other negative health outcomes.
Previous studies have also indicated that morning exercise was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. But, working out at other times of day also provide benefits. The American Heart Association says what you do may be more important than when you do it.
“While we are living longer, in general, we are not living healthier,” Esser told MedicalNewsToday. “So it is important to find ways to help people maintain or improve their health while aging, [to] improve quality of life and diminish the impact of age-related chronic diseases.”
