The timing of daily exercise may influence diabetes risk, independent of total activity volume. These findings were presented at EASD 2025, highlighting the role of exercise scheduling in T2D prevention.

Data from 87,986 UK Biobank participants without prior diabetes examined hourly moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and incident type 2 diabetes over a median 7.5 years. Three time windows emerged: morning (05:00–09:59), midday (10:00–14:59), and afternoon-evening (15:00–24:00). Participants who preferred MVPA in the afternoon-evening had the lowest T2D risk (HR 0.73) compared with morning exercisers. Midday activity also reduced risk (HR 0.83), while those without a clear timing preference had intermediate risk.  Cross-sectional data from 6,998 NHANES participants confirmed similar trends between MVPA timing and improved glycemic measures.

These results indicate that exercising later in the day may maximize metabolic benefits. While causality cannot be established, the findings suggest that timing exercise strategically could complement overall physical activity in T2D prevention strategies.