Effects of Exercise Timing on Sleep Quality
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Aerobic Exercise.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Healthy Endurance Athlet, Inactive People. Basic parameters: 18 years — 30 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- France
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
Unsure about the terms? Read our patient guide →
Official title
Effects of Exercise Timing and Physical Activity Level on Sleep Quality and Body Temperature
Overview
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.
Interventions
- Other Aerobic Exercise
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).
Primary outcome measures
- Duration of deep slow-wave sleep [Time frame: Once a month for 3 months]
Secondary outcome measures (5)
- Assessment of core temperature [Time frame: Once a month for 3 months]
- Evaluation of autonomic nervous system thermoregulation [Time frame: Once a month for 3 months]
- Evaluation of autonomic nervous system thermoregulation [Time frame: Once a month for 3 months]
- Complementary sleep evaluation [Time frame: Once a month for 3 months]
- Complementary sleep evaluation [Time frame: Once a month for 3 months]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- 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).
Exclusion criteria
- 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
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: Yes
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Crossover
- Masking
- Open label
- Primary purpose
- Basic science
Study locations
France · 1 center
- Chu Saint-Etienne — Saint-Etienne
Identifiers
NCT: NCT07322276 · 25CH122 · 2025-A00957-42