For those who are looking for an answer to what is the right time to work out, whether it is evening or morning, here is an answer for you. A new study has found the right time to workout so that it can help you with weight loss. The study published in the journal Obesity has found that early morning activity, ideally between 7 am and 9 am, could help with weight loss.

For the study, a total of 5285 participants in the 2003 to 2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were cross-sectionally analyzed. The group was divided into three clusters: morning, midday and evening. The associations of MVPA level and the diurnal pattern with obesity were tested.

The researchers found a strong correlation between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and obesity in the morning group. Participants who met the physical activity guidelines in the morning cluster had a lower body mass index and waist circumference than those in the other clusters. Self-reported dietary recall indicated that participants in the morning cluster had a healthier diet and less daily energy intake per unit of body weight compared with other clusters.

The study’s authors also found that participants in the morning cluster spent a significantly higher amount of time on sedentary behaviour than the participants in the other clusters. Despite the longer duration of sedentary time, the lower body mass index and waist circumference outcomes in the morning group persisted.

“Our study provided a novel tool to explore the diurnal pattern of physical activity and to investigate its impact on health outcomes,” said Tongyu Ma, PhD, assistant professor, Health Sciences Department, Franklin Pierce University, Rindge, N.H.; and the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China. Ma is the corresponding author of the study. Previous study has focused on the frequency, intensity, and duration of physical activity, according to experts. Few research have looked into the diurnal pattern of ccelerometer-measured physical activity to classify the time of day when people move. It is unknown whether cumulative physical activity at various times of the day is similarly associated with obesity.

Previous study has focused on the frequency, intensity, and duration of physical activity, according to experts. Few research have looked into the diurnal pattern of accelerometer-measured physical activity to classify the time of day when people move. It is unknown whether cumulative physical activity at various times of the day is similarly associated with obesity.

Furthermore, it is unclear if fulfilling the physical activity standards (150 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous physical activity) in various patterns is equally beneficial for reducing obesity.

Researchers investigated whether the diurnal pattern of accelerometer-measured moderate to vigorous physical activity changes the association between such human movement and obesity in the current study.

Rebecca Krukowski, PhD, a clinical psychologist with expertise in behavioural weight management, commented, “This is exciting new research that is consistent with a common tip for meeting exercise goals-that is, schedule exercise in the morning before emails, phone calls or meetings that might distract you.”

However, Krukowski said, since this is a cross-sectional study, “it is not known whether people who exercise consistently in the morning may be systematically different from those who exercise at other times, in ways that were not measured in this study. For example, people who exercise regularly in the morning could have more predictable schedules, such as being less likely to be shift workers or less likely to have caregiving responsibilities that impede morning exercise.

Predictable schedules could have other advantageous effects on the weight that were not measured in this study, such as with sleep length/quality and stress levels. In addition, the ‘morning larks’ who consistently rise early enough for morning exercise may be biologically different from their ‘night owl’ counterparts.”