According to a large new study involving more than 90,000 men and women, afternoon exercise may reduce the risks of premature death more than morning or evening exercise.
But, if you prefer morning or evening exercise, don’t lose heart. The study also found that physical activity at any time during the day is better for longevity than not exercising.
However, another new research study shows that there can be unique benefits of exercising in the morning hours, indicating that the best time to work out depends on what you want from a workout.
Why worry about exercise timing?
There are already some other studies, according to which the health effects of exercise depend, to some extent, on what time you exercise during the day. For example, while some studies have shown that people at risk of diabetes improved their blood-sugar control more if they exercised in the evening than in the morning, in other studies, people lost more body fat if they exercised early rather than later during the day.
But most of these studies were on a small scale, and their results were inconsistent and narrow. Therefore it’s been difficult to conclude when we should exercise.
Fortunately, this new large study dismisses any concerns about study size, though. Published a few months back in Nature Communications, the new study collated data from about 92,139 men and women who had participated in the UK Biobank health study of adults in the United Kingdom and worn an activity tracker for one week.
The researchers grouped the trackers’ readings of the volunteers according to when and how often they moved around, reviewed their mortality records for up to seven years after people joined the Biobank, and compared movement patterns and deaths.
The strongest relationship noted was that the men and women who most frequently performed moderate or vigorous physical activities (the equivalent of a brisk walk) lived longer than people who rarely worked out, no matter what time of day they got up and moved.
Exercising Between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. is Best For Longevity.
But the researchers also discovered a subtle association between midday exercise and even better odds of a long life.
People who did their physical activities between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. or spread it out throughout this time frame were less likely to die prematurely from heart disease or other causes (except cancer) than those who mainly exercised before 11 a.m. or after 5 p.m.
The researchers mentioned that this afternoon time frame precisely coincides with the time of day when, statistically, people are least likely to suffer a heart attack.
The advantages of afternoon exercise for longevity were most prominent for men and the elderly. The researchers concluded that by and large, the findings indicate that “exercise timing” is likely to maximize the health benefits of daily exercise.
Morning exercise targets body fat.
But for many of us, afternoon exercise in the middle of the day is generally unliked. They prefer to exercise in the morning. The good news for the morning exercisers is that early-day exercise sessions would effectively lead to greater fat burning and fat loss over time than the same exercise in the evening.
About Author: Renu Bakshi, AKA Fitness Buffhq – Best Fitness Guru, is ISSA Certified Elite Trainer. He 
passed Personal Fitness Trainer Course, Nutrition Health Coach course & Specialist Exercise Therapy course from ISSA, the USA, obtaining + 97% marks. He shares his experience and knowledge about nutrition and effective workouts to get you in the best shape of your life, no matter how old you may be. The author says: “For me, age is just a number!”