Sleep Benefits of Exercise

1 in 3 Americans don't get enough sleep on a regular basis. Exercise during the day has been shown to improve sleep efficiency and duration for adults, particularly those who live with chronic disease. Not getting enough rest has also been linked to sluggishness and physical inactivity the following day, suggesting a two-way relationship between sleep and exercise.

According to current guidelines, you should not do vigorous exercise within three hours of your bedtime.

Autumn Bates Exercise has both physical and mental benefits for sleep. Understanding how exercise affects sleep can help you create an effective workout routine.

Exercise Tires the Body

During physical activities like exercise, the body builds up pressure that makes sleeping more tempting. This pressure is known as the homeostatic sleep drive. It increases while you're awake and is reset when you sleep.

A job that requires a lot of physical activity can also make you feel sleepy, but exercising is considered better for sleep quality. This is because people with physically demanding jobs often experience musculoskeletal pain that can disrupt sleep.

Exercise Helps You Fall Asleep Faster

The text is discussing how exercise can help alleviate pre-sleep anxiety.

Outdoor Exercise Reinforces Circadian Rhythms

Bright light in the morning, especially, can help regulate the body's internal clock and promote sleep at night. Some research suggests that exercising outdoors in the morning may help reinforce these natural rhythms, which can become weaker with age.

Natural light affects the body's circadian rhythm by sending signals to the brain that tell the body to produce hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. Exposure to natural light also signals the brain to produce melatonin, which promotes sleepiness and relaxation. People who have trouble sleeping often benefit from exposure to natural light during the day, so exercising outdoors can improve sleep in two different ways.

What Type of Exercise is Best for Sleep?

Aerobic Exercise & Cardio

The benefits of aerobic exercise are well-documented, and include improvements to heart health, reduced blood pressure, and increased sleep quality.

One study found that a single moderate-intensity aerobic exercise session significantly reduced anxiety in people with insomnia, as well as cutting the time it took them to fall asleep in half and increasing the amount of time they spent asleep overall.

Resistance Training

You don't have to do aerobic activity to get better sleep, resistance training can help too. Studies have shown that doing any muscle-strengthening exercise is associated with better sleep quality.

Resistance training is a form of exercise that makes your muscles work against a weight or force. Some examples of this type of exercise include:

• Lifting weights
• Using resistance bands
• Bodyweight workouts like pull-ups

Yoga

Yoga is great for mental and physical health. It helps with stress, anxiety, depression, and sleep. It is especially good for people with cancer, menopause, or arthritis.

When is the Best Time to Exercise for Sleep?

There is no one exercise routine that will work for everyone to improve sleep, but studies have found that aerobic exercise in the morning is more effective than afternoon or evening exercise in helping people fall asleep more quickly, sleep more soundly, and spend less time awake during the night. Light evening exercise such as stretching or yoga can also help to prepare the body for bed without being too strenuous.

Exercising in the Morning is Best for Sleep

Exercising in the morning affects your heart rate by promoting parasympathetic activity in the central nervous system during sleep, which is associated with calm and relaxation.

The researchers have theorized that if you exercise in the morning, your body has enough time to calm down before you sleep, so you'll sleep more restfully than if you exercise at night.

Nighttime Exercise can Decrease REM Sleep

Researchers have observed that people who exercise at night tend to experience a spike in body temperature, which can interfere with the natural decline in core temperature that occurs as part of the 24-hour circadian cycle. Additionally, evening exercise can elevate the heart rate, and studies have shown that people who exercise at night may experience a decrease in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. These changes have not been observed as consistently in people who exercise in the morning.

If you have a busy schedule, you may find it more convenient to exercise at night. However, exercising too close to bedtime can make it harder to fall asleep, reduce the amount of time you spend sleeping, and negatively affect how efficiently you sleep.

The above text is saying that there are benefits to working out at night, although the specifics vary depending on the time of day the person works out.

Timing High-Intensity Workouts

If you can only speak a few words before needing to take a breath, you are likely engaging in high-intensity, or vigorous-intensity, exercise. High-intensity exercise includes activities such as running or jogging, lap-swimming, cycling at least 10 miles, or uphill hiking.

A group of physically fit men were studied to see the effects of high-intensity exercise before bedtime. The results showed that it took the men 14 minutes longer to fall asleep and their heart rates were higher.

However, some studies have found that exercise can actually improve the quality of sleep. When a group of physically active adults exercised for 90 minutes before going to bed, those who felt they had worked out harder had more deep, restful sleep than those who felt they had worked out less. They also fell asleep faster, woke up less during the night, and spent less time awake in bed.

The ideal time for people to engage in high-intensity exercise may differ based on their chronotype, which indicates whether they are disposed to sleeping earlier or later in the day. Those who are classified as morning people or “larks” generally wake up and go to bed earlier, while those classified as evening people or “owls” typically rise and sleep later on in the day. A study found that chronotypes can have a significant influence on a person's athletic performance at different times, which suggests that people should plan their strenuous workouts around the time of day when they are most alert.

8 Proven Tips to Sleep Better at Night

1. Increase bright light exposure during the day

Your body has a natural way of keeping time known as your circadian rhythm.

It has an impact on your brain, body, and hormones, keeping you awake and indicating to your body when it is time to sleep.

Your circadian rhythm is a biological process that controls when you feel awake and when you feel sleepy. It is controlled by an internal clock that tells your body when to sleep and wake up. The circadian rhythm is also known as the sleep/wake cycle. Exposure to natural sunlight or bright light during the day helps keep your circadian rhythm healthy. This improves daytime energy, as well as nighttime sleep quality and duration.

In people with insomnia, daytime bright light exposure improved sleep quality and decreased the amount of time it took to fall asleep by 83%.

A study done with older adults found that if they were exposed to bright light for 2 hours during the day, they would sleep for 2 more hours and be 80% more efficient in their sleep.

Most research on the effects of light on sleep involves people with severe sleep issues, but it is likely that exposure to light during the day will improve sleep quality even for people who only experience average sleep issues.

Choose a daily exposure to sunlight, if possible, or purchase an artificial light device or bulbs.

2. Reduce blue light exposure in the evening

Being exposed to light during the day is good for you, but being exposed to light at night has the opposite effect.

This is because it affects your circadian rhythm, making your brain think it is still daytime. This reduces hormones such as melatonin, which help you relax and get deep sleep.

The blue light emitted by electronic devices like smartphones and computers is very bad for you.

There are several popular methods you can use to reduce nighttime blue light exposure. These include:

• Wear glasses that block blue light.
• Download an app such as f.lux to block blue light on your laptop or computer.
• Install an app that blocks blue light on your smartphone. These are available for both iPhones and Android models.
• Stop watching TV and turn off any bright lights 2 hours before heading to bed.

3. Don’t consume caffeine late in the day

Around 90% of the US population consumes caffeine, which has numerous benefits.

In small doses, caffeine can improve focus, energy, and sports performance.

Although caffeine can give you a much-needed energy boost, it can also make it harder for you to fall asleep at night.

A single study found that consuming caffeine within 6 hours of bedtime significantly worsened sleep quality.

Caffeine will stay in your bloodstream for 6 to 8 hours, so it is not recommended to drink a lot of coffee after 3 or 4 in the afternoon, especially if you are sensitive to caffeine or if you have trouble sleeping.

If you want a cup of coffee in the afternoon or evening, drink decaffeinated coffee.

4. Reduce irregular or long daytime naps

Although short power naps can be helpful, napping for long periods of time or napping at irregular intervals during the day can actually have a negative impact on your sleep.

Daytime sleeping can disrupt your natural sleep schedule, making it difficult to fall asleep at night.

In one study, it was found that participants who took daytime naps ended up feeling sleepier during the day.

Further research has suggested that while taking a short nap can improve brain function during the day, napping for longer periods of time can actually have a negative impact on both health and sleep quality.

Some studies say that people who take naps during the day don't have worse sleep at night.

As long as you're getting regular daytime naps and sleeping well at night, you shouldn't worry about the effects of napping.

5. Try to sleep and wake at consistent times

Your body has a natural rhythm that follows the pattern of the sun, rising and setting.

If you want to improve your long-term sleep quality, it's important to be consistent with your sleep and wake times.

The study found that people who had irregular sleeping patterns and stayed up late on the weekends got less sleep overall.

Other studies have found that having irregular sleep patterns can change your circadian rhythm and the levels of melatonin in your body, which signals your brain that it is time to sleep.

If you are having trouble sleeping, it might help to stick to a regular schedule of waking up and going to bed at the same time every day. With enough time and consistency, you might not even need an alarm clock anymore.

6. Take a melatonin supplement

Melatonin is a hormone that helps regulate sleep by telling the brain when it is time to sleep.

Melatonin supplements are an extremely popular sleep aid.

Melatonin is a hormone that is often used to treat insomnia and may help you to fall asleep faster.

According to one study, melatonin can help improve sleep quality and energy, as well as help people fall asleep faster.

In a separate study, it was found that half the group was able to fall asleep faster and had a 15% increase in sleep quality.

There were no withdrawal effects reported in either of the above studies.

Melatonin can help your body readjust to a new time zone when traveling. This is because it regulates your body's circadian rhythm.

7. Consider these other supplements

Several supplements can induce relaxation and help you sleep, including:

• Ginkgo biloba: A natural herb with many benefits, it may aid sleep, relaxation, and stress reduction, but the evidence is limited. Take 250 mg 30–60 minutes before bed
• Glycine: A few studies show that taking 3 grams of the amino acid glycine can improve sleep quality
• Valerian root: Several studies suggest that valerian can help you fall asleep and improve sleep quality. Take 500 mg before bed
• Magnesium: Responsible for over 600 reactions within your body, magnesium can improve relaxation and enhance sleep quality
• L-theanine: An amino acid, L-theanine can improve relaxation and sleep. Take 100–200 mg before bed
• Lavender: A powerful herb with many health benefits, lavender can induce a calming and sedentary effect to improve sleep. Take 80–160 mg containing 25–46% linalool

Start by trying only one of these supplements at a time. They may not provide a complete cure for sleep issues, but combining them with other natural sleeping methods can be helpful.

8. Don’t drink alcohol

Drinking alcohol can disturb your sleep and impact your hormones.

Alcohol can make sleep apnea, snoring, and sleep patterns worse.

Light affects melatonin production, which regulates the body's daily sleep cycle.

A different study found that drinking alcohol at night decreases the body's natural nighttime production of human growth hormone (HGH). HGH is involved in regulating the body's circadian rhythm, and has many other important functions.

. Based on the findings of one study, older adults who engage in mind-body exercises such as yoga or tai chi may experience more benefits than those who engage in other forms of exercise, including improved sleep, mood, and mental health.