Effects of Exercise Timing on Sleep Quality

NCT07322276 | Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: 25CH1222025-A00957-42
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 42
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Modern lifestyles are marked by a prevalence of sedentary behaviors and physical inactivity, which have been linked to numerous adverse health effects. While regular physical exercise is a well-established countermeasure, exercising in the late afternoon may paradoxically disrupt deep sleep due to increased core body temperature. Inactive and sedentary individuals, who often have impaired autonomic function compared to endurance-trained athletes, may be particularly susceptible to these negative effects, potentially resulting in compromised thermoregulation and exacerbated disruptions to deep sleep, a critical stage of sleep essential for overall recovery. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of aerobic exercise performed in the late afternoon versus morning on: 1) deep sleep and sleep onset latency; and 2) core body temperature and its autonomic regulatory mechanisms on endurance-trained and inactive-sedentary people.

Conditions

Healthy Endurance Athlet; Inactive People

Keywords

endurance athletes; exercise timing; sleep quality

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Duration of deep slow-wave sleep

  Evaluation of the duration of deep slow-wave sleep (N3 stage) quantified by the EEG signal from polysomnography (Nox A1, Resmed®, USA).

  Once a month for 3 months

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Assessment of core temperature

  Once a month for 3 months

• Evaluation of autonomic nervous system thermoregulation

  Once a month for 3 months

• Evaluation of autonomic nervous system thermoregulation

  Once a month for 3 months

• Complementary sleep evaluation

  Once a month for 3 months

• Complementary sleep evaluation

  Once a month for 3 months

Study Arms (2)

"Inactive-sedentary" group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

inactive participants that realize 3 experimental conditions: evening exercise, morning exercise and control (no-exercise).

Other: Aerobic Exercise

"Active" group

EXPERIMENTAL

endurance athletes that realize 3 experimental conditions: evening exercise, morning exercise and control (no-exercise).

Other: Aerobic Exercise

Interventions

Aerobic Exercise OTHER

The exercise consists of running on a treadmill at 90% of maximum aerobic speed (MAS) for 30 minutes, followed by 12% increments every 5 minutes, until exhaustion (a "time-to-exhaustion" type of exercise).

"Active" group; "Inactive-sedentary" group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 30 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Group "Inactive" :No regular exercise practice (inactive people that don't follow the WHO recommendations) and have sedentary behaviors
• Group "Active": Regular exercise (athletes that are specialized in aerobic exercise, with more than 300 minutes per-week over 6 months and practice at regional level).

You may not qualify if:

• Have sleep disorders medically diagnosed or detected by sleep forms cutoffs (clinical insomnia by ISI, severe risk of obstructive sleep apnea by Stop-Bang, bad sleep quality by PSQI.
• Have a diagnosed mental health condition requiring treatment
• Have renal, respiratory, cardiovascular or neuromuscular disease medically diagnosed.
• Be pregnant or breastfeeding

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne: lead

Study Sites (1)

Chu Saint-Etienne

Saint-Etienne, 42055, France

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders

Interventions

Exercise

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Sleep Disorders, Intrinsic; Dyssomnias; Sleep Wake Disorders; Nervous System Diseases; Mental Disorders

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena

Study Officials

• Frédéric ROCHE, PhD

  Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Frédéric ROCHE, PhD

CONTACT

0477828695; frederic.roche@univ-st-etienne.fr

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: This is a single-center, open-label, randomized controlled trial with two parallel crossover groups: * "Active" group * "Inactive-sedentary" group

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 21, 2025
• First Posted: January 7, 2026
• Study Start: January 23, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 31, 2029
• Study Completion (Estimated): May 31, 2029
• Last Updated: June 3, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-06

Locations

FR (1)