Exercise can not only work wonders for your body, but your sleep cycle too.

Experts recommend that even a small amount of exercise each day can considerably improve the quality of your sleep in the evening.

If you’re not getting enough sleep at present, or if you suffer from a sleep disorder, read on and find out why exercising is such a key component for a great slumber.

Why does exercise affect sleep?

Experts suggest that 20-30 minutes of exercise, three to four times a week, can have a positive effect on your sleep quality.

We all know that exercising is extremely beneficial for our health, but did you know that it also eases the physiological issues that stop us from sleeping at night? Here are some reasons why exercise and sleep come hand in hand:

A restful mind

For those who didn’t know, cortisol is a steroid hormone that helps us wake up in the morning.

It’s also a stress hormone that helps the body fight off illness in periods of stress and provides us with more energy. When you exercise, your body perceives physical activity as stress and releases cortisol simultaneously.

Despite the additional cortisol in your system, exercise is a perfect method to reduce stress and balance out your hormones. By reducing stress before bed time, you’re certainly going to drift off a lot easier with a clear mind.

Less energy

Extensive exercise a few hours before bedtime can diminish almost all the energy you have.

As you continue to burn the calories, you’re tiring yourself out all the same. Exercising in the day time or early evening can allow your body to have a sounder and longer sleep, as well as reinvigorating you throughout the following day.

What are the best types of exercises to do for better sleep?

A lack of exercise and sleep can have a massive impact on your health.

Exercising regularly can combat the clear majority of health issues out there, but when it comes to improving your sleeping pattern, there are two recommended exercises to sleep better:

Jogging

Any aerobic exercise increases the amount of oxygen in your bloodstream and is considered amongst the best types of exercise to help you sleep better.

Jogging relieves stress and helps you relax. Early evening jogging can help you reset a disrupted body clock so you’re sleepy in the late evening and you’re wide awake throughout the day.

Yoga


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If you suffer from insomnia or any other unfortunate sleep disorders, regularly partaking in yoga is a known cure for some conditions. Yoga, like jogging, helps you to de-stress and establish a good sleeping pattern.

Stretching your back muscles can increase blood supply which is great for the body, but it’s recommended that you don’t do the butterfly pose before bed as this is renowned for removing fatigue.

What’s the best time to exercise?

Deciding on the best time to exercise is a largely debated topic, especially when it comes to a positive sleep routine.

One of the key factors to sleep in the evening is body temperature. By working out too late in the evening, your body temperature is going to be too warm to sleep. Find out why we think that early mornings and early evenings are the best times for working out:

Early Morning

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By forcing yourself to get up early in the morning, your body and mind are sure to be fatigued by the time the evening comes.

When you throw exercise into the mix, you’re going to guarantee that your sleeping pattern gets back in check and that your sleeps are longer and deeper too.

Early morning exercise also reduces your blood pressure. Blood pressure can increase when you have a disorder such as sleep apnoea. With lower blood pressure, your body is more prepared for sleep.

Early Evening

Early evening exercise is just as important for readjusting your sleep cycle.

Your body tends to be more physically prepared for exercise in the early evening compared to the morning and you’ll have extra time to do longer warm up preparations and post work-out exercise.

However, don’t exercise too late in the evening, as you should give your body temperature the opportunity to drop back to its normal level before bed. In addition to that, don’t do anything overly strenuous, even in the early evening, as the amount of adrenaline pumping around your body will make it even harder for you to go to sleep.

 

Our suggestion for those avid exercisers, who can’t resist a daily workout, is a bed base that can alleviate your aches and pains, such as a sprung bed base. For any further questions on which mattress or base that can support you best to ensure a great night’s sleep, get in touch with our helpful team today.

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