Scientists have revealed that there is a specific time of day that we should be exercising in order to lose weight.
For those of us with busy schedules, fitting in a workout often just isn't possible or something that we prioritise. But it's essential to move our bodies every day, if we can, in order to stay the healthiest and happiest versions of ourselves.
Working out in the evening after a busy day at work is often a good way to release any pent-up frustrations from your day, and is definitely more appealing than dragging yourself out of bed to do it in the morning.
But braving the early starts for your workouts could mean you end up losing weight easier, according to scientists at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
They found that it's possible to increase fat metabolism - the rate at which you burn fat - by exercising earlier in the day.
The findings, which were published in the PNAS journal, showed that mice who exercised during the human equivalent to late morning got their metabolism going much earlier in the day compared to those who were active in the evenings.
Professor Juleen R. Zierath from the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery and the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, said: “Our results suggest that late morning exercise could be more effective than late evening exercise in terms of boosting the metabolism and the burning of fat.
"If this is the case, they could prove of value to people who are overweight.”
Professor Zierath added: "The right timing seems to be important to the body’s energy balance and to improving the health benefits of exercise.
"But more studies are needed to draw any reliable conclusions about the relevance of our findings to humans."
Although mice and humans share many of the same traits, it's important to note that the rodents are nocturnal and differ to humans in a lot of ways.
The findings come after a previous study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology last year concluded that working out between 8am and 11am was linked to the lowest risk of heart disease and stroke.
Study author Gali Albalak, from the Leiden University Medical Centre, said: "Our findings add to the evidence on the health benefits of being physically active by suggesting that morning activity, and especially late morning, may be the most advantageous."
While separate research, published by the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found that older people who engage in morning exercise experienced better cognitive performance later in the day.
Lead author Michael Wheeler, from the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, commented: "This study highlights how relatively simple changes to your daily routine could have a significant benefit to your cognitive health.
"It also reveals that one day we may be able to do specific types of exercise to enhance specific cognitive skills such as memory or learning."
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