When's the best time to get some exercise - morning, afternoon, or evening?
Middle-aged or older? Looking to reduce your mortality risk? A recent study is worth examining, since it validates much of what we already knew, including the magic number of minutes for workouts
Optimise is back as an occasional post, highlighting interesting research. This one is open to all members, but it will be a continuing occasional series for paid members. Enjoy!
The research I’m focused on today showed that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity at any time was related to a lower mortality risk. People who exercised midday-afternoon or at any time had the lowest mortality risk.
What did they study?
The relation between the scheduling of moderate to intense physical activity (MVPA) and the danger of death by any cause, cancer, and CVD.
Who was the focus of the study?
A total of 92,139 middle-aged and elderly individuals (with an average age of 62) from the UK Biobank.
In terms of health status, 29.4% of participants had an ongoing health issue, 19.5% had BMIs of 30 or higher, 14.6% had a record of cancer, 8.9% had a record of depression, and 4.6% had a history of diabetes. Out of the surveyed population, 57.5% had never smoked, 36.2% were ex-smokers, and 6.3% were still smoking.
How was the study conducted?
The researchers did a 7-year study, tracking people over time.
Depending on when they worked out, the participants were split into four groups: morning (5am to 11am), midday-afternoon (11am to 5pm), evening (5pm to midnight), or mixed (no fixed time). The study considered the effects of age, gender, and amount of MVPA (min/week) on the results.
The outcomes were modified to include factors like age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, recruitment center, education level, season, diet, smoking, alcohol intake, sleep quality, and the volume of MVPA as potential confounders.
What was the outcome?
In general, engaging in MVPA at any time of day was linked to a 50%-75% reduction in mortality from all causes, cancer, and CVD, depending on the amount of MVPA done. Maximum benefits in terms of mortality reduction were seen up to 150 minutes of MVPA per week, with no further improvement noted beyond that amount.
Those who worked out without sticking to a specific time of day, and exercised in the middle of the day from 11 AM to 5 PM saw the most significant decrease in all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease mortality, 11% and 26%-28% lower than the morning group.
Men, elderly people, those who were less active, and those with existing cardiovascular disease experienced a stronger protective effect of MVPA on mortality risk.
Anything else I should be aware of?
The people studied in the UK Biobank were in better health and had more money than the general population, making it tough to apply these discoveries to a broader group.
How I’m using this research
It’s been a goal of mine to try to get at least 30 mins of moderate to vigorous exercise per day, on average throughout the week,. Though I have been off track over recent weeks, this is a long-term trend for me, and I’m taking corrective action to ensure I revert back to my mean. This research gives me heart that I’m on the right track to give myself the best chance of maintaining my quality of life. And my heart too.
The original paper is here.
Yup - there’s no best time. Just do it :)
Hi Sarb, your return to running series was quite motivational for me. While I don't expect I will be able to return to actual running, I have set myself two key targets in relation to exercise. There is still a long way to go, however, I have made a definite start towards those targets, which involve multiple journeys up a 335 m high hill near where I live. I returned from one of those climbs this afternoon and read your email. I'm in the middle-aged category, so maybe there's hope for me.