LAND OF NOD
Simple weekly change can ‘slash the risk of insomnia and ensure you get 6-9 hours sleep a night’
Researchers assessed sleep and activity levels across nine countries - find out where the UK ranks
MAKING a simple change to your weekly routine can slash your risk of insomnia, scientists say.
People who exercised two or three times a week were less likely to have problems sleeping and clocked in up to nine hours of kip per night, a study spanning 10 years found.
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It's no secret that regular exercise can boost your overall health, strengthening your muscles and heart, improving your mental health and even slashing your risk of early death.
Meanwhile, chronic sleep disturbances are associated with cardiovascular disease, metabolic dysfunction, psychiatric disorders and increased mortality, researchers from Reykjavik University said.
To explore whether physical activity leads to better quality sleep and can improve symptoms of insomnia, the research team delved into the exercise habits and sleep patterns of adults from nine European countries over the course of 10 years.
Insomnia is when you regularly have problems sleeping - whether that's finding it hard to drift off, waking up at night, or waking up earlier than you'd want and not being able to fall back asleep.
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The 4,399 study participants drawn from the European Community Respiratory Health Survey were asked how much they exercised weekly, how intensely and how long for via questionnaires.
The middle-aged adults were also assessed on whether they displayed symptoms on insomnia, how much they slept each night and whether they felt sleepy during the day.
Participants who exercised two or more times a week, for at least one hour per week or more, were classified as physically active.
They were split into four groups based on their levels of physically activity: "persistently non-active" (meaning they were non-active at the start of the study and during follow-up), "became inactive" (they were active at the start and nonactive at follow-up), "became active" and "persistently active".
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Over the 10 year study period, 37 per cent of participants remained inactive; 18 per cent became physically active; 20 per cent became inactive; and 25 per cent remained active.
Participants in Norway were most likely to be persistently active, while participants in Spain, followed by Estonia and Britain, were most likely to be persistently inactive.
Researchers found that "persistently active participants" were 42 per cent less likely to find it difficult to fall asleep.
They also had a 22 per cent lower chance of having any symptoms of insomnia, and were 40 per cent less likely to report two or three insomnia symptoms.
Persistent exercisers were were significantly (55 per cent) more likely to be normal sleepers - meaning they got between six and nine hours of sleep a night.
Even people who had not exercised previously, but who then took up exercise over the study period, were 21 per cent more likely to be normal sleepers than those who were persistently inactive.
Persistently non-active people were therefore the least likely to fit into the "normal sleep category" of sleeping six hours to nine hours each night.
The NHS recommends that adults get between seven and nine hours of sleep a night.
Health experts have warned that regularly oversleeping can also harm your health, raising the risk of conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, obesity, depression and headaches.
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The Reykjavik University researchers acknowledged reports of physical activity throughout the study were self-reported via questionnaires, so they weren't able to objectively asses them.
But they concluded: “Our results are in line with previous studies that have shown the beneficial effect of [physical activity] on symptoms of insomnia, but the current study additionally shows the importance of consistency in exercising over time, because the association was lost for initially active subjects who became inactive.”
How much exercise should you do and when?
There are guidelines issued by the NHS and the Government regarding how much exercise people should do each day.
People should be active daily, and avoid sitting for long periods.
The NHS recommends an adults – those aged 19 to 64 – should aim for 150 minutes of “moderate intensity activity” a week.
This works out to 21 minutes a day, or 30 minutes five days a week.
Or, they could do 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week, which could be less than 11 minutes per day or 25 minutes three days a week.
Adults should also aim to do strength exercises twice a week, at least.
Examples of moderate-intensity activities include brisk walking, water aerobics, riding a bike, dancing, doubles tennis, pushing a lawn mower, hiking or rollerblading.
Examples of vigorous activities include running, swimming, riding a bike fast or on hills, walking up the stairs, sports, like football, rugby, netball and hockey, skipping, aerobics, gymnastics or martial arts.
Things like lifting heavy weights, sprinting up hills, spin classes or circuit training are considered very vigorous.
What time should you exercise?
Getting exercise into your day, no matter what time is a good idea.
But you may want to be more selective depending on your goal.
A 2023 US study on 5,285 middle-aged adults showed exercising between 7 and 9 am was the best time if you're looking to lose weight.
Researchers found that early-bird gym goers had a lower body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference than those working out later.
A 2022 study led by Prof Paul J Arciero, Skidmore College, New York, found that the optimal time of day to get your kit on might differ according to your gender.
Prof Arciero said women wanting to lose fat around their belly and hips would do better to hit the gym in the morning, but those seeking to gain upper body strength or simply improve their mood might see more results from evening exercise.
The results were the opposite for men.
If you struggle to get to sleep, it's been found that exercise in the morning may help, but exercise in the evening may help you to stay asleep.
Exercise, generally, can improve sleep quality
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