meta-analysis·systematic review, meta-analysis, epidemiology, public health, internal medicine·PMC10198889
Best Time of Day for Strength and Endurance Training to Improve Health and Performance? A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis
Sports Medicine - Open · 6 authors, 4 centres
AI SUMMARY
FIDELITY 100%
POPULATIONhumans of various ages, fitness levels, and health conditions
INTERVENTIONstructured endurance and/or strength training at different times of day (e.g., morning vs. evening)
COMPARISONexercise training at different times of the day
This summary was generated by AI from a single paper. It has not been reviewed by a clinician and is not clinical advice. Verify against the source before acting on it.
The authors found little evidence for or against a specific time of day being more beneficial, but some evidence for larger effects when training and testing times are congruent.
Full summary
780 CHARS
The methods involved a structured search of databases and inclusion criteria requiring randomized trials comparing at least two daily training times for at least two weeks. The central finding was that both qualitative and quantitative syntheses provided little evidence that training at a specific time of day leads to greater improvements in performance or health outcomes. However, there was some evidence for a benefit when training and testing occur at the same time of day, particularly for performance-related outcomes. The authors noted that the overall risk of bias in most studies was high. The implications are that the current research does not support specific time-of-day recommendations for training, and future studies should be designed with improved methodology.
PICO
PPOPULATION
humans of various ages, fitness levels, and health conditions
IINTERVENTION
structured endurance and/or strength training at different times of day (e.g., morning vs. evening)
OOUTCOME
performance-related (e.g., maximum strength, jump height) and health-related outcomes (e.g., body fat, blood pressure)
