What could be more frustrating than not being able to fall asleep? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one out of three adults sleeps less than 7 hours per night, an amount considered insufficient for health and well-being.
The American Heart Association recommends adults should get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity per week for overall cardiovascular health. They also encourage adults to take part in muscle-strengthening activities, such as strength training, on two or more days per week.
Beyond the benefits exercise has for muscle strength and function and cardiovascular health, research shows exercise improves sleep quality, helping insomnia sufferers fall asleep faster and spend more time slumbering. However, most studies looking at a link between exercise and insomnia have focused on aerobic exercise. The consensus, based on research is that aerobic exercise improves sleep quality and morning workouts have an advantage over workouts later in the day.
Strength Training for Better Sleep Quality
But what about strength training? Researchers at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa put strength training to the test as part of a new study. For the study, researchers asked 286 obese or overweight adults with high blood pressure to take part. They divided the participants into three groups, based on the type of exercise they would do. The three groups were:
- Aerobic exercise group
- Strength training group
- Combination of aerobic exercise and strength training (half aerobic and half resistance training)
- No exercise
The participants took part in 3 sessions of their respective types of exercise weekly. The sessions lasted for an hour.
The aerobic exercise modalities varied, including stationary biking, treadmill, and elliptical with the goal of meeting the criteria for moderate to intense exercise. The strength training group worked on resistance machine that worked their entire body at an intensity of 50 to 80% of their one-rep max.
Work Your Muscles for Better Sleep
At the beginning of the study and at 12 months, the participants took a standardized assessment of sleep quality. The researchers also measured:
- The time it took the participants to fall asleep
- How long the participants slept
- Sleep disturbances
- Sleep duration
The results showed:
- Sleep duration increased more for the strength training group than the aerobic, combined exercise, group, or the control group. The least improvement was seen in the control group.
- The time required to fall asleep only dropped in the strength training group. No changes were seen with the aerobic, combined exercise, or control group.
- Sleep efficiency improved in the strength and combined exercise group but not the aerobic or control group.
- There were minor improvements in sleep quality in all groups, including the control group, but the strength training group showed the greatest benefits.
Strength Train for Better Sleep?
Although this study has limitations, for example, sleep questionnaires aren’t always reliable, it does raise the question of whether we’re ignoring a potential treatment for insomnia – strength training. It’s not clear how strength training improves sleep quality but it’s a potential treatment for insomnia that deserves more research.
Studies show an association between exercise and better sleep quality but that doesn’t mean exercise causes you to sleep better. Another possibility is that people who sleep better exercise more because they have more energy. It’s a question of which comes first, the chicken or the egg. However, other studies suggest the link between exercise and sleep improvements likely comes from exercise itself.
But why do these improvements occur? One way exercise (both aerobic and strength training) may improve sleep is by reducing the stress hormone cortisol. Although cortisol serves a useful purpose, mobilizing energy stores and sending more glucose into your bloodstream, it also has negative effects. One of the negative effects of cortisol is the impact it has on sleep. When your cortisol level is high, it’s harder to drift off to sleep and you’re more likely to wake up during the night.
According to Harvard Health, exercise lowers cortisol and adrenalin, another stress hormone that hypes up your body and makes it harder to relax. Another benefit of exercise is that it boosts the release of natural chemical called endorphins that reduce pain and help your body relax. The stress-relief benefits of exercise may explain some of the benefits.
The Bottom Line
Regardless of what type of exercise you do, it could help you get a better night’s sleep but it’s still important to adopt good sleep hygiene habits including:
- Avoid electronics 90 minutes before bedtime
- Have a rigid nighttime routine, even on the weekends: same foods, same bedtimes, and wake-ups
- Practice meditation
- Avoid caffeine after noon
- No screens before bed
- Keep the room dark and cool
- Use ear plugs to reduce noise and wake up easier in the morning
- Turn off your Wi-Fi at night
- Keep the temperature in your sleeping area around 65 degrees F.
- Make sure you have a comfortable mattress
- Take a warm bath before bedtime.
But don’t neglect the benefits exercise, including strength training, has on sleep quality. Hopefully, further research will reveal the extent to which strength training improves sleep quality and the best time of doing it to get the most benefits.
There are perks to getting more sleep too. For one, research shows getting enough high-quality sleep reduces food cravings and helps with weight control. Sleep has too many important functions, so make sure you’re making enough time for it and leading a lifestyle that promotes the best sleep quality.
References:
- American Heart Association. “Resistance exercise may be superior to aerobic exercise for getting better ZZZs.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 3 March 2022. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220303215826.htm>.
- Kline CE. The Bidirectional Relationship Between Exercise and Sleep. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. 2014;8(6):375379. doi:10.1177/1559827614544437.
- Hill EE, Zack E, Battaglini C, Viru M, Viru A, Hackney AC. Exercise and circulating cortisol levels: the intensity threshold effect. J Endocrinol Invest. 2008 Jul;31(7):58791. doi: 10.1007/BF03345606. PMID: 18787373.
- Exercising to Relax Harvard Health Publishing Harvard Health. Harvard Health. Published February 2011. Accessed April 12, 2022. https://www.health.harvard.edu/stayinghealthy/exercisingtorelax
- Reinagel M. Getting More Sleep Can Reduce Food Cravings. Scientific American. Published October 22, 2019. Accessed April 12, 2022. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/getting-more-sleep-can-reduce-food-cravings/
- Dolezal BA, Neufeld EV, Boland DM, Martin JL, Cooper CB. Interrelationship between Sleep and Exercise: A Systematic Review [published correction appears in Adv Prev Med. 2017;2017:5979510]. Adv Prev Med. 2017;2017:1364387. doi:10.1155/2017/1364387.
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