We all know how important exercise can be in maintaining a healthy lifestyle but a new study has revealed that getting active at a certain time of day is particularly beneficial.

Conducted by researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia, the study followed the trajectory of 30,000 people over almost eight years, using wearable devices to chart their exercise and when they were most active.

New study reveals the healthiest time of day to exercise

Using the data provided by participants’ wearable devices, researchers were able to categorize physical activity by morning, afternoon and evening.

They found that people who did the majority of their exercise between 6pm and midnight had the lowest risk of premature death and death from cardiovascular disease.

So if you’re looking to stay healthy, the best time to hit the gym is in the evening.

However, joint first author of the study, Dr Matthew Ahmadi, explained that physical activity was not simply limited to structured exercise – such as going to the gym or attending a fitness class – as it also included any bouts of ‘aerobic moderate to vigorous physical activity’ (MVPA) of three minutes or more.

This is any type of physical activity that would raise our heart rates and get us out of breath.

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“We didn’t discriminate on the kind of activity we tracked, it could be anything from power walking to climbing the stairs, but could also include structured exercise such as running, occupational labor or even vigorously cleaning the house,” said Dr Ahmadi in a news release.

In total, the study included a sample of 29,836 adults aged over 40 who were living with obesity, of whom 2,995 had also been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

Similar clinical trials have been carried out before – and have shown similar results – but the significant size of this study, which has been published in the journal Diabetes Care, gives researchers their best understanding yet of when physical activity is most beneficial.

“Exercise is by no means the only solution to the obesity crisis,” said Dr Angelo Sabag, Lecturer in Exercise Physiology at the University of Sydney. “But this research does suggest that people who can plan their activity into certain times of the day may best offset some of these health risks.”

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Wearable devices made this study possible

The study was massively aided by the advent of wearable technology such as smartwatches and fitness trackers and Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, Director of the Mackenzie Wearables Research Hub at the Charles Perkins Centre and senior author on the paper, paid tribute to such devices and their ability to provide us with insights into the patterns of activity that are most beneficial for health.

“It is a really exciting time for researchers in this field and practitioners alike, as wearable device-captured data allow us to examine physical activity patterns at a very high resolution and accurately translate findings into advice that could play an important role in health care,” said Professor Stamatakis.

“While we need to do further research to establish causal links, this study suggests that the timing of physical activity could be an important part of the recommendations for future obesity and Type 2 diabetes management, and preventive healthcare in general,” he concluded.

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