Physical activity and exercise are something that many of us practice regularly. It is a fun hobby for many of us while also being one of the popular natural home remedies and lifestyle habits that can help us with falling asleep faster. Due to how our bodies respond differently, the way we practice physical activity and exercise can affect our sleep quality in different ways. In this blog, we will cover how physical activity and exercise affect your sleep quality so you can determine the most effective ways to integrate them into your routine!
The Benefits of Exercise for Sleep
In general, a healthy balance of exercise throughout our week will improve our sleep quality or offer other benefits that can indirectly improve our sleep. Some of these benefits include:
- Direct sleep benefits
- Physical benefits
- Mental benefits
Direct Sleep Benefits
Physical activity and exercise during the day tire us out as night approaches, so we can fall asleep faster and easier at night. The essential hormone for sleep known as melatonin is stimulated to release earlier when we do cardio-related activities around the start or middle of the day. This becomes an effective means of moving our circadian rhythm forward, so we feel tired later at night. Going outdoors in the morning or afternoon to exercise improves the effectiveness even further by exposing our bodies to natural sunlight. By promoting a regular pattern for our body to recognize daytime and nighttime, we are training our body when it needs to be awake and when it is time to fall asleep.
Physical Benefits
Common injuries and body pain can result in poor sleep quality, however, having a stronger body and being able to avoid accidents can help improve our sleep. Strength and weight training exercises build muscle mass and increase our bone density, which also lowers the severity of injuries that may occur in our day-to-day life. A stronger body that can better handle injuries promotes faster recovery and better sleep quality. Other activities such as tai chi and yoga are effective means of improving our body’s balance and flexibility which can also help in reducing our chances of falling and getting injured.
Combining daily exercise with the proper sleeping position for your body is another way to help speed up the process of healing from a physical injury. Because there is no universal one-size-fits-all, the flexibility of mattresses for adjustable beds and the versatility of adjustable bed frames makes them among the most highly sought-after bed solutions on the market. Through our wireless remotes, adjustable beds can change positions anytime to best suit your comfort preferences and accommodate back and neck pain.
Mental Benefits
Having fun and enjoying our regular exercise helps us to forget or put aside our daytime stress. Choosing a fun physical activity that we enjoy can help improve our mood, overcome depression, and motivate us to continue the practice as a lifestyle. Exercising with a group of friends is another effective way of encouraging each other to practice, improve, and learn together. By reducing our stress and anxiety, healthy exercise promotes mental clarity for a good night’s rest with uninterrupted sleep cycles.
Is It Good to Sleep After a Workout?
The best time to exercise for sleep can greatly depend on the time you go to bed and your schedule at work or school. It will also depend on whether you are a morning person or a night owl and how long it takes for your heart rate and body temperature to settle before heading to bed. Finishing an exercise one to two hours before bed or earlier tends to work for most of us, however, exercising too late can result in lower sleep quality. To experience the benefits of exercise for sleep, it is best to try out different schedules for your exercise that can help you figure out what works best for your body.
Proper Exercise Intensity
Our current health condition, diet, and genetics are just a few examples of the different variables that can affect how our body will respond to different workout intensities. As we increase the level of our exercise intensity, our heart rate and body’s core temperature will also increase. Because of this, improper exercise intensity can lower our sleep quality. It is important to exercise at the right intensity level according to our body’s response and condition so we can reap the benefits of exercise for sleep.
Lower-intensity strength training is great for beginners to consider when learning the proper techniques and form in a gym setting. This is also an effective method to stay active and moving if you want to improve circulation and alertness at the start of the day. When recovering from an injury, low-intensity exercise is also recommended before gradually returning to higher-intensity training after recovery.
Moderate-intensity exercise is generally the recommended choice for its effectiveness while still allowing our body to cool down and return to its normal heart rate in a few hours. Injuries are also less likely to happen when training with light and moderate weights.
A high-intensity workout will generally require more time for our bodies to settle down before bed, however, this may not be an issue if you make time to settle down before bed. The major benefits of high-intensity workouts are that they tend to be the most effective for improving strength and long-term results when combined with proper form and safe training practices.
IN SUMMARY
Everyone has different bodies that may respond differently to physical activity at certain times of the day and various intensity levels, so it is always good practice to try new things out and find a system that works best for our body. By practicing the right exercise habits for your body, you too can improve your sleep quality and experience all their positive health benefits!
We hope you found this article helpful and informative, especially if you were looking for more information on how to improve sleep quality with exercise! If you have any queries or wish to discuss our adjustable beds further, please do not hesitate in reaching out to us! We are experts in what we do and want to ensure you find the best adjustable bed solutions to meet your needs.
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