Washington, Feb 20 (PTI) Exercising can help counter the effects of jet lag, shift work, and other disruptions to the body’s internal clock and help people cope with erratic schedules.


The circadian “body”‘ clock is the 24 hour cycle that regulates many physiological processes including sleeping and eating.

Many factors affect this internal body clock including light and time cues. Exercise has been known to cause shifts in the circadian clock however very little is known about this effect.




“This is the first study to compare exercise’s effects on the body clock, and could open up the possibility of using exercise to help counter the negative effects of jet lag and shift work,” Youngstedt said in a statement.


Participants then walked or ran on a treadmill at a moderate intensity for one hour per day for three consecutive days.

They exercised at one of eight different times of day or night, but each individual exercised at the same time on all three days or nights. The timing of the body clock was re-assessed following the third exercise session.



This is published unedited from the PTI feed.