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Want
to Sleep Better? Exercise!
If you have trouble sleeping, chances are you don't exercise.
Or you don't exercise enough or exercise properly.
Exercise (both physical and mental)
is one of the most important things you can do to overcome or
lessen insomnia.
It can help you to fall asleep easier and faster and sleep more
restfully and deeper when you do. For some people, exercise
by itself is enough to overcome their insomnia.
Why Exercise Promotes Sleep
Exercise helps you to sleep better for a couple of reasons.
Exercise is a beneficial stressor to the body. The brain compensates
for the physical stress by increasing the amount of time you
spend in deep sleep (stage 4 sleep).
Exercise also encourages sleep because it causes one's body
temperature to rise and then fall by equal amount a few hours
later. This drop in your body temperature makes it easier
to fall asleep and stay asleep.
Exercise and Bright Light
Exercise may also help people to sleep because people often
exercise outside, increasing their exposure to bright light
(sunlight). This bright light exposure helps to properly regulate
the body-temperature rhythm which makes it easier to sleep
better.
These two factors, exercise and exposure to sunlight, may
help explain why people find it so easy to sleep well when
they have spent extended time outdoors, such as when they
are camping or hiking.
For example, the best sleep I've ever had in my life was in
a very unexpected place. After hiking to the bottom of the
Grand Canyon, I slept on slightly padded granite under the
stars with wild animals all around me. None of it bothered
me in the least, however, because I slept at least nine hours,
and they went by in a flash. I'm sure I slept so well in a
place seemingly hostile to sleep because of my physical activity
and sun exposure.
If you think about it, you'll probably remember a similar
story in how you slept great after an active day outside.
Big Difference
Skeptical about the positive effects of exercise on sleep?
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine
studied how exercise affects sleep patterns of people aged
55-75 who were not physically active and had insomnia. They
were asked to moderately exercise for 20-30 minutes every
other day in the afternoon. The outcome of their exercising
was that they fell asleep 50% faster and slept nearly one
hour longer. Very impressive!
Vicious Insomnia Cycle
Not enough exercise can contribute to insomnia by inhibiting
the daily rise and decline of your body-temperature rhythm.
As a result, many people get caught in this vicious cycle:
insomnia --> reduced energy and physical activity -->
worsened insomnia --> reduced energy and physical activity...
To illustrate, let me tell you about my being caught in the
cycle. I would not sleep well, in part, because I was not
active enough. Then because I was so tired from a lack of
good sleep, I would not want to exercise. Or if I did feel
up to exercising, I still did not do it because I was afraid
exercise would only leave me more tired the next day if I
was not able to sleep well that night. This, of course, caused
me to not sleep well and the cycle would continue. It was
maddening.
I was only able to break the cycle by forcing myself to be
more active, even and especially when I felt tired or had
anxiety about doing it. After a few day of exercising I noticed
an improvement in my quality of sleep, even if I was worried
about not being able to sleep well.
This goes beyond exercise and is a running theme of overcoming
insomnia. You must live as much as possible as if you don't
have insomnia. In other words, you must not let insomnia stop
you from living a normal, healthy life. You must live as normally
as possible despite feeling tired or having anxiety about
living normally. Easier said than done, of course, but you
must try.
The more you give into the fears and anxieties that come with
insomnia, the worse the insomnia (and the fears and anxieties)
will become.
When to Exercise to Combat
Insomnia
To overcome insomnia, it's probably best to exercise in the
late afternoon or early evening. If you must exercise earlier
than this, then by all means do so, but exercising at this
time may not be as effective in combating insomnia as exercising
later in the day.
You should not exercise in the late evening or just prior
to going to bed. Exercise at this time of the day will not
give your body enough time to cool down and calm down, making
it difficult to sleep. If this time is the only opportunity
you have to exercise, then make it a light exercise, nothing
approaching strenuous.
Bottom line: Try to exercise three to six hours before bedtime
to get the maximum benefits on sleep.
Exercise the Body AND Mind
I keep detailed sleep logs. In them I record what I did on
a particular day and how I slept that night. My sleep log
clearly shows that I generally sleep best following a day
in which I exercised both my body and brain.
That's why for maximum sleep benefits, I suggest performing
physical activities that also involve your brain at least
somewhat.
By exercising your brain while you work out, I'm not suggesting
that you contemplate the secrets of the universe while you
are, say, jumping rope. I'm simply suggesting that you do
exercises that keep your mind interested and active when you
work out your body. This is not only good for your body and
mind, but keeping things interesting lets you avoid boredom
in your workouts.
Keep Your Body &
Mind Confused
To benefit as much as possible from exercise, you don't want
to do the exact same thing all of the time.
Your body and mind will get used to the exercise you are performing
and they will not be as stimulated by it. In fact, if you
get used to it enough, it will hardly be exercise at all.
Not to mention, it will also be becoming boring, and this
means you will be less likely to do it, if you do it at all.
Also, by making yourself do different exercises, or at least
variations on the same exercise, you are exercising your mind
because it must first think to come up with something at least
a little different and then work to properly learn and perform
the new exercise or variation. If you don't struggle to some
degree when you exercise, then you aren't really exercising.
How to Motivate Yourself to
Exercise
If you have insomnia, then understanding that exercise can help
you sleep better should be a powerful motivator to exercise.
However, getting into a good exercise routine is hard. So I've
put together 100 more exercise
benefits. Print out the page, and put it someplace where
you will see it often. It's nearly impossible to read the list
even partially and not feel some motivation to exercise.
Best Exercises for Sleep
There are two types of exercise: aerobic and anaerobic.
Aerobic means "with oxygen." Aerobic exercises increase
the amount of oxygen in the blood. Examples of aerobic exercises
include jogging, walking, swimming, bicycling, jumping rope,
dancing, riding a stationary bicycle, and using a treadmill.
Anaerobic, or nonaerobic, means "without oxygen."
Anaerobic exercises, such as slow walking, bowling, or strength
training with weights, are important to your overall fitness
level.
Aerobic exercises, however, are probably the best to combat
sleeplessness. However, if you dislike aerobic exercise but
like anaerobic, then doing anaerobic is certainly better than
no exercise. And anaerobic exercises alone will likely help
you sleep better, just probably not as well as aerobic ones.
To help yourself to sleep well, you should get 15-45 minutes
of moderate-intensity exercise on a daily or near daily basis.
The physical activity does not need to be performed at all
one time. It can be broken up throughout the day. If you want
to exercising longer or engage in high intensity activity,
then do so. Just make sure you are healthy enough for it.
It's a good idea to build up level of physical activity by starting
with low-intensity activities for short duration a few times
a week, then gradually increasing the duration and frequency.
Those who plan to start more vigorous physical exercise or who
have a chronic health problem should first consult their physician
to plan a safe, effective program.
Virtually any type of physical activity can help you to overcome
insomnia. However, the below are exercises are probably especially
good for the task for various reasons. Click on each to find
more information about them and how to perform them for maximum
sleep benefits.
Also,
be sure to check out the helpful exercise
comparison grid.
Additional resources
Mental exercise
CNN
article
Lab
Reports article
Holistic
article
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