Effects of Physical Exercise Timing On Strength and Cardiometabolic Health

NCT06063135 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: EPOCH
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 152
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Physical exercise is well known to improve human health. Current guidelines provide recommendations on the frequency, intensity, type and duration of exercise. However, they do not provide recommendations for the time of day, exercise should be performed. This is surprising considering that the influence of timing of behaviors such as sleep or nutrition as well as the impact of the circadian timing system on health are well documented. Further, there is evidence for diurnal variation in maximum performance which enables individuals to exercise with different intensities at different times of day, which in the long term might affect physical adaptations to exercise. Thus, this research study investigates if exercise timing impacts human health.

Conditions

Physical Inactivity

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Maximum strength

  Mean value of the maximum isometric strength assessed at four different times of the day with an isometric mid-thigh pull on a force plate.

  Pre-Intervention (i.e. 1 to 28 days before the first training session of the exercise intervention) and Post-Intervention (i.e. 1 to 28 days after the last training session of the exercise intervention)

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Glucose control

  Pre-Intervention (i.e. 1 to 28 days before the first training session of the exercise intervention) and Post-Intervention (i.e. 1 to 28 days after the last training session of the exercise intervention)

• Body composition

  Pre-Intervention (i.e. 1 to 28 days before the first training session of the exercise intervention) and Post-Intervention (i.e. 1 to 28 days after the last training session of the exercise intervention)

• Cardiorespiratory fitness

  Pre-Intervention (i.e. 1 to 28 days before the first training session of the exercise intervention) and Post-Intervention (i.e. 1 to 28 days after the last training session of the exercise intervention)

Study Arms (3)

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Single life-style coaching session

Exercise Time 1

EXPERIMENTAL

Physical exercise intervention taking place at one time of the day

Other: Physical Exercise Intervention

Exercise Time 2

EXPERIMENTAL

Physical exercise intervention taking place at another time of day

Other: Physical Exercise Intervention

Interventions

Physical Exercise Intervention OTHER

Two strength training session per week and one endurance training session per week

Exercise Time 1; Exercise Time 2

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 60 Years - 80 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• BMI 18.5 - 30 kg/m2

You may not qualify if:

• Structured resistance training within the last six months
• Ongoing shift work
• Irregular bedtime (\> 2 hours variation in habitual bed time)
• Smoking
• Travels across more than two time zones within the last four weeks
• Inability to follow the study procedures (e.g. due to language barriers, psychological disorders, dementia, etc.)
• Known pregnancy or lactating women
• Participation in any other clinical trial within the last four weeks
• Medical condition that is a contra indicator for resistance training, endurance training, or exercising until maximum exhaustion including insufficiently controlled blood pressure (systolic \> 170 mmHg, diastolic \> 100 mmHg), ongoing cancer treatment, unstable angina pectoris, uncontrolled bradyarrhythmia or tachyarrhythmia, severe uncorrected valvular heart disease, clinically relevant acute infection, any form of musculoskeletal injury, orthopedic problems or decompensated cardiovascular disease
• Insulin dependent diabetes
• Participants using metformin

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Basel: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Basel

Basel, 4052, Switzerland

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Sedentary Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Study Officials

• Raphael Knaier, PhD

  University of Basel

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, INVESTIGATOR
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Researcher Group leader: Circadian Exercise

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 18, 2023
• First Posted: October 2, 2023
• Study Start: November 21, 2023
• Primary Completion: June 24, 2025
• Study Completion: June 24, 2025
• Last Updated: June 25, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-06

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Time Frame: After completion of study

Locations

CH (1)