Participating in regular activity and getting plenty of sleep each night are both important factors in living a healthy and functional life. Mayoclinic.com states that factors such as stress, anxiety, depression and little physical activity may all influence sleep problems. While an article in the "New York Times" states that the exact science between sleep and exercise in unclear, increasing your activity throughout the day may improve your quality of sleep at night.
Exerice and Sleep Latency
A 2009 study by the Ritchie Centre for Baby Health Research at Monash, University in Melbourne, Australia, observed how more movement and activity during the day affected the sleep habits of healthy children. The study observed that sleep onset latency — the time it takes to fall asleep once in bed — in the children observed ranged from about 10 minutes to 40 minutes. Every hour spent in sedentary activity throughout the day added three minutes in the time it took to fall asleep. The study also observed that children who fell asleep faster also slept longer, suggesting that increased activity during the day may result in shorter time needed to fall asleep.
Exercise and Quality of Sleep
Your quality of sleep may improve if you participate in a regular moderate-intensity exercise program, according to a 1997 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Over a 16-week period, researchers of the study observed 29 women and 14 men between the ages of 50 and 76 who were generally healthy and reported moderate sleep complaints. Participants engaged in four weekly 30- to 40-minute training sessions at moderate intensity. Those who exercised in the study reported higher self-rated quality of sleep results than those in the control group.
Expert Insight
At the 50th annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine in 2003, Dr. Shawn D. Youngstedt, a researcher at the University of California, San Diego, said that insomnia may be one of many adverse health conditions that may be treated with increased physical activity. Youngstedt claims that regular exercise may have the same effective on the human body as sleeping pills, and that it may be a more healthy, safe, inexpensive and simple alternative to improving sleep than sleeping pills.
Considerations
Youngstedt suggests that people should experiment for themselves to see whether exercise promotes better sleep habits. Such experiments may even involve performing exercises at different levels of intensity throughout the day. Concurrently, keep a daily exercise and sleep journal to record when and how long you exercise and how well you sleep. For severe cases of insomnia, speak with your doctor.
References
- ACSM News Release; Trouble Sleeping? A Little Exercise Might Help; Christa Dickey; 30 May 2003
- "Archives of Diseases in Childhood"; Falling Asleep; GM Nixon; Sep 2009
- Clinics in Sports Medicine; Effects of Exercise on Sleep; SD Youngsted, Ph.D.; Apr 2005
- "Journal of the American Medical Association"; Moderate-Intensity of Exercise; AC King, et al; Jan 1997
- "New York Times"; Does Exercise Help You Sleep Better?; Gretchen Reynolds; 26 May 2010
- Mayo Clinic: Insomnia
