Exercising in the early hours of the day could amplify the health benefits of physical activity, according to recent research. A study involving over 14,000 participants revealed that individuals who consistently worked out in the morning exhibited a significantly lower likelihood of developing coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, or obesity compared to those who exercised later.

The investigation utilized health records and heart rate data from Fitbit activity trackers. Prem Patel, a medical student at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, led the study. He commented, “Any form of exercise is better than none, but our focus was to explore how the timing of exercise might add an extra benefit. Morning workouts appear to correlate with reduced rates of cardiometabolic diseases.”

It is widely recognized that regular exercise decreases the chances of developing conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity, which are major contributors to heart disease.

The researchers identified periods of activity by looking for times when participants experienced an elevated heart rate lasting at least 15 minutes.

Participants who regularly exercised in the morning were found to be 31% less likely to suffer from coronary artery disease and 18% less likely to experience high blood pressure compared to their later-exercising counterparts.

Additionally, these early risers had a 21% lower chance of high cholesterol, a 30% lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, and were 35% less likely to be obese.

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.