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. 2021 Jul 9;18(9):1029-1036.
doi: 10.1123/jpah.2020-0802. Print 2021 Sep 1.

Does the Time-of-Day of Exercise Influence the Total Volume of Exercise? A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Objectively Monitored Physical Activity Among Active Individuals

Paige G Brooker, Mary E Jung, Dominic Kelly-Bowers, Veronica Morlotti, Sjaan R Gomersall, Neil A King, Michael D Leveritt

Does the Time-of-Day of Exercise Influence the Total Volume of Exercise? A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Objectively Monitored Physical Activity Among Active Individuals

Paige G Brooker et al. J Phys Act Health. .

Abstract

Background: To improve compliance and adherence to exercise, the concept of temporal consistency has been proposed. Before- and after-work are periods when most working adults may reasonably incorporate exercise into their schedule. However, it is unknown if there is an association between the time-of-day that exercise is performed and overall physical activity levels.

Methods: Activity was assessed over 1 week in a sample of 69 active adults (n = 41 females; mean age = 34.9 [12.3] y). At the end of the study, participants completed an interviewer-assisted questionnaire detailing their motivation to exercise and their exercise time-of-day preferences.

Results: Participants were classified as "temporally consistent" (n = 37) or "temporally inconsistent" (n = 32) exercisers based on their accelerometry data. The "temporally consistent" group was further analyzed to compare exercise volume between "morning-exercisers" (n = 16) and "evening-exercisers" (n = 21). "Morning-exercisers" performed a greater volume of exercise than "evening-exercisers" (419 [178] vs 330 [233] min by self-report; 368 [224] vs 325 [156] min actigraph-derived moderate to vigorous physical activity, respectively).

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that active individuals use a mixture of temporal patterns to meet PA guidelines. Time-of-day of exercise should be reported in intervention studies so the relationship between exercise time-of-day, exercise behavior, and associated outcomes can be better understood.

Keywords: chronotype; compliance; participation; temporal consistency.

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