Lark or owl? Here are the best times to exercise, whether you are a morning or night person

Any exercise is better than none, but the ideal time to go to the gym or for a run depends on whether you are a morning or night person

Exercise is most effective when done at a time that matches an individual’s biological rhythm. Pictures: iStock

Getting up early to squeeze in a workout before heading to the office or stopping off at the gym on the way home? Which is best for your health? Whether there really is a right and wrong time to exercise was a question posed by Dr Arsalan Tariq, a physical therapy researcher at the University of Lahore, for a recent study in Open Heart journal.

Tariq and his team discovered that by synchronising your daily workout with your chronotype — your genetic predisposition to sleep or wake at certain times — you could significantly boost your heart health. They also found that aligning at least some of your workouts with your chronotype could help lower risk factors for heart attacks and strokes, such as high blood pressure, fasting glucose, and ‘bad’ cholesterol. It also boosted sleep quality.