This is interesting. Researchers now say working out in the morning will help you sleep better at night. I know, I know. We’ve heard this before. Does it really make a difference?
According to Scott Collier, Ph.D. and lead author on the latest study, “Exercise is proven to improve the quality of sleep, and our team wanted to see if the timing of exercise could maximize these benefits [of sleep].”
Exercise is good for a body in general. The Mayo Clinic notes that exercise improves your mood, combats chronic diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. It also can help you manage your weight, boosts your energy level and sometimes promotes better sleep.
Well, researchers with Appalachian State University studied the effects of exercise timing on the sleep patterns of six male and three female subjects. Each subject visited the lab at pre determined times: at 7 am, at 1 pm and at 7 pm for 30 minutes of treadmill exercise. Subjects then wore a sleep monitoring headband to measure sleep stage time and quality of sleep.
Exercise at 7 am showed significantly greater improvements in quality of sleep compared to exercise at 1 pm and 7 pm. Morning exercise caused a 20% increase in sleep cycle frequency and subjects spent more time in light sleep as well as deep sleep.
Collier said, “Our research has shown that well-timed exercise can elicit even greater sleep quality.”
Bottom line? Get your exercise. And, if you can do it in the morning, you’re likely to sleep better at night.
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