Why women should exercise in the morning: Study says exercising before noon is best for the heart
- Study looks at people's physical activity levels while wearing fitness trackers
- People were divided into four groups based on when they were most active
- People who exercise in the morning have a lower risk of heart disease
- This includes heart attacks and, most commonly, angina
Women who exercised in the morning had a lower risk of heart attack or stroke.
A study of more than 85,000 people in the UK looked at their physical activity levels while wearing fitness trackers for a week.
People were divided into four groups, including those who were most active around 8 a.m. and those who were most active around 10 a.m.
The other two groups contained people who were most active around noon and 7 p.m.
A study of more than 85,000 people in the UK looked at their physical activity levels while wearing fitness trackers for a week
People who do it first thing in the morning or in the morning have a lower risk of heart disease, including heart attack, most commonly angina and coronary heart disease, the study found.
Those who exercised in the morning were less likely to have a stroke.
Gali Albalak, who led the study at the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, said: “Exercise is known to be beneficial for heart health, and our study now shows that morning activity appears to be most beneficial.”
“This finding was especially pronounced in women, and applies to both early birds and night owls.”
The study, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, looked at people aged 42 to 78 who had never had cardiovascular disease and who had enrolled in the UK Biobank Health Study.
After recording how much they exercised, they were followed for six to eight years, during which time 2,911 developed heart problems and nearly 800 suffered strokes.
Comparing times of peak activity over a 24-hour period, the researchers found that being most active between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. was associated with the lowest risk of heart disease and stroke.
Compared with those who were most active around noon, those who exercised first around 8 a.m. were 11 percent less likely to have a heart attack.
Compared with those who were most active around noon, those who exercised the most in the morning were 16 percent less likely to suffer a heart attack and 17 percent less likely to have a stroke.
The results were true regardless of whether people were generally quite active or very inactive, whether they described themselves as morning or late risers.
But when the men's and women's results were analyzed separately, the researchers found that women seemed to benefit greatly from getting the most exercise in the morning, while men did not.
Women who were most active in the early morning or early evening had a more than one-fifth lower risk of heart disease than those who exercised most in the middle of the day.
Ms Albalak said: “It is premature to formally recommend that morning exercise be a priority as this is a completely new area of ​​research.
“But we hope that one day we can refine the current advice by adding a line – ‘When exercising, it is recommended to do so in the morning'.”
Dr Raymond Noordam, senior author of the study from the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, said: “There is no doubt that exercise is beneficial, regardless of the time of day, this is the most important message.
“But these new results suggest that it may be more beneficial to get the most physical activity in the morning.”
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