How Daily Movement Helps With Better Sleep

Conventional wisdom has long proclaimed that a healthy bedtime ritual is key to a good night’s sleep. But a recent study suggests that physical activity may have more of an influence on sleep quality than was previously understood.

“When people think about sleep quality, they tend to focus on adjustments immediately before bedtime — for ­example, avoiding screens, not eating too much, and avoiding alcohol — but our research looks beyond this to the range of activities we undertake during the day,” explains University of South Australia researcher Lisa Matricciani, PhD, in a news article about the research.

“What we found is that our daytime activities are tied to different aspects of our sleep, from sleep quality, sleep efficiency (how much of the time you spend in bed when you are actually asleep), and the overall amount of sleep we get to levels of tiredness during the day and when we choose to go to bed.”

Matricciani and her team analyzed data from 1,168 children (average age of 12) and 1,360 adults (average age of 44). Participants wore an activity monitor for eight consecutive days to measure their levels of activity and sleep.

When adjusted for a variety of socioeconomic variables, the results, published in the journal Sleep Health, indicate a strong association between daytime physical activity and sleep quality.

At the same time, participants who spent more of the day sedentary had delayed bedtimes and earlier waking times in the morning, resulting in less overall sleep.

Healthy bedtime rituals certainly won’t hurt, but getting a restful snooze may not even be that complicated. “Every­one wants a good night’s sleep. If it’s simply a matter of being more active during the day, then it may be a relatively achievable goal for most of us,” says Matricciani.

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