Forget The Wind-Down Routine: New Study Shows Light Exercise Before Bed Results in 30 Minutes’ Extra Sleep
Bedtime routines and wind-down rituals may be trending at the moment, with wellness influencers lining up to share their pre-bed regimens, but a new study suggests that coming to a complete halt in the final hours before you hit the hay may not be the best approach. In fact, light exercise could be the key to peaceful slumber. If you’re a fan of deep sleep you might want to wake up and give this a read…
New research from a randomised crossover trial, published in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, has revealed that short, regular bouts of bodyweight exercises can enhance your sleep quality and duration without affecting your physical activity levels the following day.
The Study
Participants took part in two different four-hour evening sessions starting around 5 PM. In one session, they remained seated for the entire time. In the other, they interrupted their sitting every 30 minutes with three-minute bursts of bodyweight exercises including squats, calf raises, and knee raises. The researchers tracked the outcomes using sophisticated sleep monitoring devices as well as sleep diaries, capturing detailed data on sleep quality, physical activity, and sedentary time.
The Results
The findings are a potential dream come true for the sleep-resistant among us. Participants who included the regular bouts of exercise slept almost half an hour longer (an average of 29.3 minutes) and had 27.7 minutes more actual sleep time compared to their prolonged-sitting counterparts. Interestingly, sleep efficiency – the percentage of time spent asleep while in bed – and the number of awakenings during the night didn’t change much. So, the quality of sleep, at least in terms of uninterrupted rest, remained pretty even across both groups.
Another key finding that was these short exercise sessions didn’t affect physical activity levels the next day or even the day after, indicating no added fatigue or decreased activity, so you don’t have to worry about a short evening exercise routine impacting tomorrow’s chest workout or run.
What Does This Mean for Us?
If you’re looking for smarter ways to catch more ZZZs, it might be time to rethink your evening routine. Breaking up your sofa time with simple bodyweight exercises could be a game-changer. The exercises used in the study were pretty hassle-free – they didn’t require any equipment, took up minimal space, and can even be done without distracting you (too much) from your latest Netflix binge. The study used straightforward exercises like squats and calf raises, but the key takeaway is to move regularly. Sets of press-ups and burpees work, and if you’ve got a kettlebell handy you could even transform your evening routine with a sleep-inducing mindful swing challenge. But, with all that being said, movement is the key here – you could also just move around your house, take a few trips up and down the stairs every few hours, or even try ramping up the intensity of your post-machine clothes folding.
This study challenges the long-held belief that exercising before bed is bad for sleep. While high-intensity workouts might still be off-limits close to bedtime, these light, frequent movements show promise for enhancing sleep without any negative side effects. For those struggling with sleep issues, this research offers a practical and easy-to-implement solution.
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