Exercise offers a great tool for people in search of a better night’s sleep, but with so many options, it’s hard to know what will offer the most benefit. While more research is needed, the findings of a new study do help highlight one notable method of exercising your way to improved sleep. Regular exercise offers significant benefits when it comes to improving sleep quality. Suggest that high-intensity yoga for less than 30 minutes, twice a week, may be your best bet. Walking came in second, followed by resistance training and aerobic exercise. The researchers theorize that yoga beat out other options due to the controlled breathing exercises associated with its practice, which activate the parasympathetic nervous system, lowering heart rate and promoting relaxation. Don’t add that yoga mat to your shopping cart just yet, though. The researchers say further investigation is needed to confirm their findings. Most research into the effects of exercise on sleep is limited to one or two types of exercise, comparing differences in intensity, frequency, and duration to assess the impact on sleep over no exercise. This is the type of trial that went into the meta-analysis, allowing researchers to indirectly compare different types of exercise by ranking each study by the magnitude of sleep impact, as well as by relative intensity and duration. New research that directly compares different exercise regimes, while also accounting for confounding factors like sex, age, and fitness history, could offer more definitive conclusions. But the Harbin study, along with Science News’ interviews with sleep experts, does offer some guidance for how to approach exercise as a sleep aid in the meantime. Avoid exercising right before bed. While you may think you’re tiring yourself out, long or intense workouts can raise cortisol levels, making it harder to fall asleep.
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