According to a recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, people that exercise have fewer sleep problems.
The study involved participants trying different types and intensities of exercise to determine what effect this had on sleep problems. The results showed that people with sleep problems (particularly difficulty in falling asleep) would find it easier to sleep after participating in moderate aerobic exercise:
“Indeed,by analyzing the effect of different exercise modalities, we observedthat moderate-intensity aerobic exercise significantly reduced anxiety state and improved sleep variables.”
The total sleep time for participants was significantly increased:
“…in our population of insomnia patients, the mean increase observed was approximately 1 hour.”
Sleepio’s sleep expert Professor Colin Espie commented that this is very valuable research, but noted that the timing of the exercise is also crucial:
“Exercising too close to bedtime makes us too aroused to sleep and can increase insomnia problems, so it’s much better to get exercise into your daily routine.”
Professor Espie also noted that most people would prefer a non-drug solution for their sleep problems. He suggests that daytime exercise might work very effectively alongside cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for treating insomnia
So if you want to sleep well tonight (and every night), set aside some time every day for exercise that gets your heart pumping. It will help your mood and overall health as well.
Source – Effect of Acute Physical Exercise on Patients with Chronic Primary Insomnia by Giselle S. Passos, M.Sc.; Dalva Poyares, M.D., Ph.D.; Marcos G. Santana, M.Sc.; Silvério A. Garbuio;Sergio Tufik, M.D., Ph.D.; Marco Túlio Mello, Ph.D., Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2010
Posted in Science, Sleep News | Tagged: Science, Sleep News, study
[...] have previously posted about the effects of aerobic exercise on people with sleep problems, and another study has just [...]