When it comes to our health, exercising regularly, eating a balanced diet and getting enough sleep are all essential. Doing all those will help you maintain optimal health and overall well-being. After a stressful day, sleep is what enables the body to repair, be fit and ready for another day.
According to experts, you should aim to get between seven and eight hours of sleep every night, but over the past few decades, both sleep quality and quantity has declined for different reasons.
If you are having trouble sleeping, there are quite some tips that can help you sleep better at night, including exercise.
Exercising regularly can help you get the required amount of sleep every night as studies have shown that exercising regularly can help those experiencing insomnia sleep better.
Also, according to the Sleep Foundation, exercise causes a change in your core body temperature, mimicking a similar temperature change that happens before you fall asleep. In addition, exercise may help to realign your internal body clock – depending on the time of day a person exercises.
As researchers continue to work to understand how physical activity impacts sleep, some forms of exercise have proven to be better than others in helping one sleep better.
For instance, doing aerobic exercises regularly for a prolonged period of time can improve the quality of sleep and moderate-intensity aerobic activities can decrease the severity of sleep-disordered breathing conditions like sleep apnea.
However, it is important to note that moderate-intensity aerobic exercises like walking, water aerobics and a bike ride up inclines, may improve sleep quality more than vigorous-intensity activities like running, jogging, lap-swimming, intense biking and physically demanding sports like basketball and singles tennis.
Running boosts serotonin, which may improve the brain’s ability to metabolize the hormone and regulate sleep.
Also, doing resistance exercises like lifting weights, push-ups and sit-ups can help one sleep better.
It has been discovered that people who exercise regularly are less likely to have insomnia and sleep issues, however, if exercise is done too close to bedtime, it can induce insomnia.
To see results, experts recommend 30 minutes of exercise a day, five days a week.
Happy exercising!
Cole Ruxton has been training others for more than 12 years.
