I wrote recently about how exercise is useful to help you help you sleep better, but that it takes time to be effective. One session is not going to miraculously send you off into a deep slumber.
For a long time, the common belief has been that exercising late in the day or evening will keep you awake. Some people have no doubt used this as an excuse not to exercise.
A recent report dispels that belief and busts the myth.
Researchers found that people who exercised in the evening reported sleeping just as well as those who weren't active in the hours before bed.
Researchers from the Arizona State University in Phoenix analysed responses collected from 1,000 adults participating in the 2013 National Sleep Foundation Sleep in America Poll. The telephone- and web-based questionnaire asked participants how well they felt they slept, how long they slept each night, how much time it took them to fall asleep, and whether they felt refreshed after waking up in the morning.
The poll also asked participants about their exercise habits, such as whether they exercised regularly and, if so, whether they were active in the morning, afternoon or evening. Evening was considered to be within four hours of going to sleep.
Based on the types of physical activity participants performed regularly, like tai chi, running or yard work, workouts were categorized by intensity as light, moderate or vigorous.
People who exercised vigorously in the morning were 88 percent more likely to report good sleep quality than non-exercisers and 44 percent less likely to say they woke up feeling unrefreshed.
Moderate-intensity morning exercisers were 53 percent more likely to say they slept well overall, compared to people who didn't exercise.
There was no difference in any of the sleep measures between moderate or vigorous evening exercisers and non-exercisers.
Any self-reporting research has it's limitations but the results show that regardless of when you exercise, it is likely to help your sleep not hinder it.
What does it mean for you?
If morning exercise doesn't fit into your schedule or you just can't bring yourself to exercise first thing in the morning, then doing your exercise late in the day or evening is not going to stop to sleeping. And if for some reason you missed your morning session, you can't use sleep as an excuse for not making it up later in the day.
Article Author: David Beard, Calico's Exercise Physiologist & Healthy Aging Expert