A daily round of moderate aerobic exercise a few hours before bedtime helps people with insomnia to sleep better. Brazilian scientists found that moderate aerobic exercise, such as running on a treadmill, helped insomniacs fall asleep more quickly, wake less often, and increase their total time asleep. Heavy aerobic exercise or strength exercises didn’t have the same effect.
Researchers at the Federal University of San Paulo studied both men and women with insomnia. They divided them into three exercise groups—moderate aerobic, heavy aerobic, and moderate strength. Those in the group doing moderate aerobics showed a 54 percent reduction in the time it took to fall asleep, 36 percent less wake time, and an increase of 21 percent in total sleep time. They also had a seven percent reduction in anxiety. The other two groups didn’t experience any significant change in their sleep time.
Another important finding of the study is that the exercise was done at night. While most experts believe exercise has good effect on the quality of sleep, they also believe it is stimulating when done too late in the day. They usually advise those with sleep problems to exercise earlier in the day. But earlier workouts often don’t fit busy schedules, and evening may be the only time available in a hectic day.
“These findings indicate that there is a way to diminish the symptoms of insomnia without using medication,” said Giselle Passos, author of the study.
“This is the first study to look at the importance of using physical exercise to treat insomnia and may contribute to increased quality of life in people with one of the most important kind of sleep disorders in the world.”
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