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Metabolic Adaptations to Morning Versus Afternoon Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

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Abstract

Background

Some physiological responses such as circulating glucose as well as muscle performance show a circadian rhythmicity. In the present study we aimed to quantitatively synthesize the data comparing the metabolic adaptations induced by morning and afternoon training.

Methods

PubMed, SCOPUS, and Web of Science databases were systematically searched for studies comparing the metabolic adaptations (> 2 weeks) between morning and afternoon training. A meta-analysis was performed using random-effects models with DerSimonian–Laird methods for fasting blood glucose, hemoglobin A1c (HbAc1), homeostatic model assessment (HOMA), insulin, triglycerides, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL).

Results

We identified 9 studies with 11 different populations (n = 450 participants). We found that afternoon exercise was more effective at reducing circulating triglycerides [standardized mean difference (SMD) − 0.32; 95% confidence interval (CI) − 0.616 to − 0.025] than morning training. Moreover, afternoon tended to decrease fasting blood glucose (SMD − 0.24; 95% CI − 0.478 to 0.004) to a greater extent than morning training.

Conclusion

Metabolic adaptations to exercise may be dependent on the time of day. Morning training does not show superior effects to afternoon exercise in any of the analyzed outcomes. However, afternoon training is more effective at reducing circulating triglyceride levels and perhaps at reducing fasting blood glucose than morning training.

The study was preregistered at PROSPERO (CRD42021287860).

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge Miguel Lopez García for his help with organizing the searches performed in the present study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Communication and Education, Universidad Loyola Andalucía, Seville, Spain

    Pablo Galan-Lopez

  2. Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Loyola Andalucía, Córdoba, Spain

    Rafael A. Casuso

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Correspondence to Rafael A. Casuso.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Funding

The present study did not receive any specific funding.

Data Availability Statement

Data originated during the research project are available on request from the corresponding author (rcasuso@uloyola.es).

Author Contributions

R.A.C. designed the study and carried out the statistical work; R.A.C. and P.G.-L. interpreted the data; R.A.C. and P.G.-L. drafted the manuscript. All the authors contributed to developing, editing, and approving the final version of the paper. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Galan-Lopez, P., Casuso, R.A. Metabolic Adaptations to Morning Versus Afternoon Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Sports Med 53, 1951–1961 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-023-01879-0

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