Previous studies show that having poor cardiometabolic health can potentially increase a person’s risk for heart disease. Known as cardiometabolic disease, this condition includes several health issues that are known to raise a person’s risk for cardiovascular disease, including type 2 diabetes , obesity , high blood pressure , chronic kidney disease , and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease . Past research demonstrates that making healthy lifestyle choices, such as eating a nutritious diet , not smoking , getting enough sleep , and being physically active may help lower a person’s risk for cardiometabolic disease. “Cardiometabolic diseases remain the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide,” Prashant Rao, MBBS, MRCP(UK), FACC , sports cardiologist and physician-scientist in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine in Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard Medical School, told Medical News Today . “Even small improvements in risk at a population level can translate into substantial reductions in disease burden. Identifying modifiable behaviors, especially ones that are simple and scalable, remains a major public health priority,” he said.
Previous studies show that having poor cardiometabolic health can potentially increase a person’s risk for heart disease.
Known as cardiometabolic disease, this condition includes several health issues that are known to raise a person’s risk for cardiovascular disease, including type 2 diabetes , obesity , high blood pressure , chronic kidney disease , and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease .
Past research demonstrates that making healthy lifestyle choices, such as eating a nutritious diet , not smoking , getting enough sleep , and being physically active may help lower a person’s risk for cardiometabolic disease.
“Cardiometabolic diseases remain the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide,” Prashant Rao, MBBS, MRCP(UK), FACC , sports cardiologist and physician-scientist in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine in Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard Medical School, told Medical News Today .
“Even small improvements in risk at a population level can translate into substantial reductions in disease burden. Identifying modifiable behaviors, especially ones that are simple and scalable, remains a major public health priority,” he said.
Rao is the senior author of a new study to be presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session (ACC.26) that found that while physical activity may help lower a person’s cardiometabolic risk, what time of day they exercise may also play an important role.
For this study, researchers analyzed health data from almost 14,500 participants of the All of Us study . Data included heart rate data from participants’ Fitbits, and exercise was assessed every 15 minutes throughout the day.
Scientists then looked for links between the times of day participants exercised and cardiometabolic risk factors, such as high blood pressure, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.
“There is growing recognition that biology is not static across the day,” Rao said. “Many important metabolic and cardiovascular processes follow circadian rhythms . Despite this, exercise recommendations have largely ignored timing. We wanted to test whether timing represents an independent and clinically relevant dimension of exercise behavior in real-world populations.”
Researchers also evaluated participants’ rates of cardiovascular issues, such as coronary artery disease and atrial fibrillation .
At the study’s conclusion, Rao and his team found that participants who exercised in the morning, when compared to those who exercised in the evening, were:
This shows that when people exercise may be just as important as how much they exercise. The study also found that exercise performed between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. was specifically associated with the lowest odds of coronary artery disease.
“Importantly, these associations were independent of total physical activity, indicating that timing is not simply a proxy for ‘more exercise,’ but may reflect an additional behavioral or biological signal,” Rao said.
“Exercise timing may represent a previously underappreciated dimension of exercise and cardiometabolic health. While any exercise is beneficial, morning exercise may confer additional advantages.” — Prashant Rao, MBBS, MRCP(UK), FACC
“The next step is to move from association to causation,” Rao added. “I think these findings should motivate a large randomized trial of exercise timing. Ultimately, the goal is to determine whether we can optimize exercise prescriptions not just by dose, but by timing.”
MNT spoke with Cheng-Han Chen, MD , a board certified interventional cardiologist and medical director of the Structural Heart Program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, CA, about this study.
“This study found that exercising in the morning was associated with lower levels of cardiometabolic risk factors such as coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol , diabetes, and obesity,” Chen commented. “This is an interesting finding that should stimulate more research into specific timing of exercise for the greatest health benefit.”
“Cardiovascular disease continues to be the leading cause of death in the United States,” he continued. “We need to continue to work on lowering cardiometabolic risk factors in order to decrease the burden of this disease on our society. Future research can include randomized controlled trials that better ascertain the role of exercise timing on health outcomes.”