Overview
- The randomized trial, published Tuesday in Open Heart, found that scheduling workouts to match each person’s chronotype outperformed mismatched times on blood pressure, metabolism, fitness, and sleep.
- Systolic blood pressure dropped 10.8 mm Hg with matched timing versus 5.5 mm Hg when mismatched, rising to 13.6 versus 7.1 among participants who started with hypertension.
- Researchers enrolled about 150 adults aged 40 to 60 with at least one heart risk factor and assigned five supervised 40‑minute brisk‑walking sessions per week for 12 weeks in either morning or evening slots, with 134 completing all sessions.
- Both groups improved with regular exercise, yet benefits were larger when timing was aligned and tended to be greater in morning types, with sleep quality scores improving by 3.4 points versus 1.2 when mismatched.
- Authors and independent experts said clinicians could consider simple chronotype checks, though the Lahore-only sample, exclusion of intermediate chronotypes, and self-reported sleep call for replication before changing standard advice.