According to a study, people who exercise twice thirty minutes per week are less likely to suffer from insomnia or sleep disorders.
- People who exercise at least twice a week, for a total of one hour, are less likely to suffer from sleep disorders, including insomnia.
- They are more likely to manage to sleep between six and nine hours a night.
- All study participants were regular long-term athletes.
To quickly find the arms of Morpheus, it is better to move! In the specialist journal Epidemiologyresearchers from different universities, particularly Icelandic, demonstrate that regular practice of sport is associated with better quality of sleep: the people concerned have less risk of suffering from sleep disorders.
Regular exercise reduces the risk of sleep disorders
Before reaching this conclusion, the researchers recruited nearly 4,400 people, men and women in 21 health centers spread across nine European countries. They assessed the frequency, duration and intensity of these people’s weekly physical activity, as well as symptoms of insomnia, prolonged nighttime sleep and drowsiness using participants’ responses to different questionnaires. Participants who reported exercising at least twice per week, for 1 hour or more in total, were classified as physically active. Data collection took place over ten years. At the end of this period, 37% of participants were constantly inactive, 18% became physically active, 20% became sedentary, and 25% were continuously active.
The latter were more likely to have quality sleep. According to the analysis of the data and the taking into account of different factors, they had a reduced risk of 42% of suffering from difficulty falling asleep and 22% of having symptoms of insomnia. “Regarding total hours of sleep and daytime sleepiness, after adjusting for age, sex, weight, smoking history, and study center, continuously active participants were most likely to be normal sleepers, while persistently inactive participants were least likely to be in this category”, note the authors. By “sleepers normal”, they hear that these people slept between six and nine hours a night. People who started physical activity during the period were 21% more likely to also have a normal sleep rhythm, compared to sedentary people.
The multiple health benefits of sport
“Our results are aligned with previous studies that have shown the beneficial effect of physical activity on insomnia symptoms, but the current study further shows the importance of exercise regularity over time, because the association was lost for initially active subjects who became inactive”, conclude the authors. They remind us that physical activity is beneficial for general health. According to’World Health Organization, people with insufficient physical activity have a 20% to 30% increased risk of death compared to those who are sufficiently active. According to its recommendations, an adult should devote at least 1 hour 15 minutes to sustained intensity endurance activity each week.
