If you have trouble sleeping, chances are you don't exercise. Or you don't exercise enough or exercise properly.
Exercise 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 light . This light exposure helps to properly regulate the body-temperature rhythm which makes it easier to sleep better.
These two factors, exercise and exposure to light, 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 --> >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 very 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 two to four hours before bedtime to get the maximum benefits on sleep.
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 ExerciseExercise in a group with like minded people. Ensure you have variety in your exercise so you dont get bored and your body is continually working. Exercise outdoors, tests have shown that outdoor exercise stimulates the body and brain. Step inot Life offers all this and more.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
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.
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