A team of researchers from New Zealand’s University of Otago has confirmed that light exercise in the evening can go a long way in ensuring better sleeping. This is contrary to the traditionally held belief that any form of evening exercise hurts one’s sleep.
A study by researchers was published in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, funded by the Health Research Council. Participants took part in two four-hour evening sessions, one involving prolonged sitting, and another involving activity breaks of three minutes every half hour. Exercises such as chair squats, standing knee raises with straight leg hip extensions, and calf raises were designed to be simple and equipment-free so that participants could do them without interrupting their evening activities.
Lead author Jennifer Gale, a PhD candidate in the Department of Human Nutrition, noted that prolonged sitting is a risk factor for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and increased mortality. For many people, the majority of sitting occurs in the evening at home, said Gale. It had been shown previously that breaking up sitting with short bouts of exercise every 30 minutes lowers blood sugar and fat levels following a meal.
Primary investigator Dr. Meredith Peddie, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Human Nutrition, explained that the exercises are quite practical. “These simple, bodyweight exercises were chosen because they don’t require equipment or a lot of space, and you can do them without interrupting the TV show you are watching,” she said. Peddie said similar benefits could probably be achieved by walking around the house, marching on the spot, or even dancing in the living room.
On average, those who took activity breaks slept 27-30 minutes longer compared with participants who remained seated. This is important because too little sleep is linked with poor diet, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. “We know higher levels of physical activity during the day promote better sleep, but current sleep recommendations discourage high-intensity exercise before bed because it can increase body temperature and heart rate, resulting in poor sleep quality,” Peddie explained. “It might be time to review these guidelines as our study has shown regularly interrupting long periods of sitting is a promising health intervention.”
The study involved 28 healthy individuals under 40 who wore an activity tracker for seven days in a row, tracking their sleep and exercise. Individuals did not go to bed at variable times, but woke up at variable times, on average, because those exercising in the evening tended to wake up later than the rest.
This study did have a controlled laboratory setting; this, together with the small number of subjects, was its weakness. These findings add to the growing body of research that shows evening exercise does not impact sleep quality. Seven to nine hours of sleep per night is recommended for protection against diseases such as obesity, heart disease, and depression.
The authors question conventional wisdom by suggesting that something as simple as fitting in light exercises in the evening could be such means to achieve improvements in sleep quality and overall health.