A 2022 study presented at the American Heart Association health conference has revealed that not only is strength and endurance training more effective than cardio or aerobic exercise in promoting a better night’s sleep, but can also make you fall asleep faster.
The research, led by Angelique Brellenthin, an assistant professor of kinesiology at Iowa State University, took 386 adults, divided them into four groups, and randomly assigned them to a 12-month course of exercise. One group was given only resistance training to do, another had to do purely aerobic exercises, while a third was given a combination of the two. A fourth group had no exercise to do.
One year later, those in the endurance group slept an average of 40 extra minutes compared to the start of the research, while those in the aerobics group only slept an extra 23 minutes. The combined team, meanwhile, managed just 17 more minutes. Time sleep quality and sleep disturbance improved in all groups, sleep latency, that is, the time it takes a person to fall asleep, only improved in those who did resistance training, decreasing by three minutes. “While both aerobic and resistance exercise are important for overall health, our results suggest that resistance exercises may be superior when it comes to sleeping better at nightBrellenthin says. “Resistance exercise significantly improved sleep duration and sleep efficiency, which are critical indicators of sleep quality that reflect how well a person falls asleep and stays asleep through the night.”
Rarely has people’s sleep been as disturbed as it has been in the last two years. A study published in the journal Sleep Medicine in January 2021 revealed that during the peak of the Covid pandemic, the number of people suffering from clinical insomnia (that is, when insomnia occurs three nights a week for a period of time) had increased. three months or more). by 37 percent and sleep medication prescriptions also increased by 14 percent. It is now estimated that between 30 and 35 percent of people will suffer from insomnia at some point in their adult lives.
Another study, this time from King’s College London and Ipsos Mori from 2020, found that 63 per cent of people believed that the quality and quantity of their sleep had worsened since the pandemic began.
So if your sleep quality has recently noticeably worsened, you may want to work some resistance exercise training sessions into your regular routine. Not only will it be good for the health of your bones and muscles, but you will notice a difference when it comes to falling asleep at night.
Dr. Verena Senn is a neurobiologist and sleep expert at emma dream. “Getting the right amount and quality of sleep is an incredibly important part of staying active,” she says. “Studies have shown that elite athletes need even more sleep than non-athletes to fully recover from physical exertion, and regular exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle will greatly improve your sleep.”
It certainly rings true in my experience. A couple of years ago, when I was tired and chubby, I embarked on a 12-week personal training program at my local gym and it was an eye opener. In addition to losing weight, toning up, and discovering that I actually had a jawline, I also discovered that I had more energy during the day and, more importantly, slept better than I had in years.
And the best? There was no cardiovascular work involved at all.
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