ArticleBMJ open sport & exercise medicine2018
Exercise time cues (zeitgebers) for human circadian systems can foster health and improve performance: a systematic review.
Article in BMJ open sport & exercise medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 78 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
78 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Time-of-day effects of acute and regular exercise on sleep quality and mood: a three-level meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Exercise dose architecture as a precision-informed developmental framework in autism spectrum disorder: a narrative review of mechanisms, sex- and development-related heterogeneity, and clinical translation.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Shift Work and Early Arterial Stiffness: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Differential benefits of 12-week morning vs. evening aerobic exercise on sleep and cardiometabolic health: a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Effects of 12-week whole-body vibration training versus resistance training in older people with sarcopenia.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- The effects of a real-life lifestyle program on physical activity and objective and subjective sleep in adults aged 55+ years.BMC public health · 2022Trial
- Investigating circadian clock gene expression in human tendon biopsies from acute exercise and immobilization studies.European journal of applied physiology · 2019Trial
- Timed physical exercise does not influence circadian rhythms and glucose tolerance in rotating night shift workers: The EuRhythDia study.Diabetes & vascular disease researchTrial
- Optimizing timing of exercise to improve metabolic outcomes in obesity and type 2 diabetes.Npj biological timing and sleep · 2026Review
- Exercise and Circadian Rhythm Regulation: Mechanisms, Resilience, and Therapeutic Potential for Neurological Diseases.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2026Review
- Circadian clock and its potential as a therapy for ischemic heart disease.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2026Review
- Body and Mind Intertwined: Physical Activity Intensity, Sleep Quality, and Depressive Symptoms: Cross-Sectional Associations and Exploratory Path Analysis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Gene-Physical Activity Interplay in Depression: Candidate-Gene Interactions, Polygenic Susceptibility, Lifestyle Context, and Mendelian Randomization Evidence-Systematic Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Optimizing Athlete Travel for Performance: A Scientific Blueprint for Athletes, Coaches, and Sports Medicine Staff.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Review
- The biological clock in parkinson's disease: mechanisms and chronotherapy.NPJ Parkinson's disease · 2026Review
- Adolescent circadian sleep health: a review of multimodal assessment strategies and clinical implications.Frontiers in sleep · 2026Review
- Exercise timing as a potential temporal regulator of neurolymphatic physiology in neurodegenerative proteinopathies: a mechanistic framework.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- Physical activity and sleep quality among college students: a cross-sectional analysis of bedtime procrastination, social jetlag, and chronotype.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- LAMAS (Light, Activity, Meals, & Sleep) timings & burnout, anxiety, and depression in teachers: Protocol for a cross-sectional study.PloS one · 2026Article
- Exercise benefits in metabolism on cardiovascular disease.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Review
18 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCircadian system time cues (zeitgebers) acting synergistically at the right times can foster chronobiological homeostasis and ultimately health. Modern 24/7 societies are challenging chronobiological homeostasis and public health. Exercise has been discussed as a potential zeitgeber for the human circadian system. Thus, if timed correctly, exercise may help in maintenance of chronobiological homeostasis and foster public health amidst increasingly challenging 24/7 lifestyles.
objectiveTo test, using a systematic review of the literature, the following hypothesis: exercise is a zeitgeber for the human circadian system. DATA SOURCES: The PubMed database was systematically searched on 19 October 2017 for relevant scientific studies and reports concerning chronobiology and exercise. Eligibility criteria were defined to include articles considering exercise as a potential zeitgeber for human circadian rhythmicity or chronobiological effects of exercise on health and/or physical performance. Cognitive effects and effects on children were excluded from the synthesis.
resultsOur systematic literature search and synthesis is compatible with the validity of the hypothesis. We report that potential exercise-zeitgeber properties may be used to improve health and performance.
conclusionsInformed timing of exercise, specific to the circadian rhythm phase and zeitgeber exposure of the individual, must be advocated in performance and disease contexts as an adjunct therapeutic or preventative strategy and physical enhancer.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.