Exercise and Sleep

Truth be told, I chose this topic today because I need to hear this one myself right now.  Between camping the past two weekends and my son having sleepover last night, I am sorely lacking in the sleep department recently!  

There are many things that can affect sleep.  Six pre-teen boys running around your house before finally settling down in the tents around 1am would be one of them!  But in keeping with my theme, today’s topic is about exercise.  

When I work with clients who know that they want to improve their sleep habits, as a Health Coach, my first go-to is to discuss exercise.  A wide body of research indicates that exercise does help you to fall asleep faster and to improve your sleep quality once you are asleep (see this article from John Hopkins). 

There is still some conflicting evidence regarding exercise right before bed.  The Cleveland Clinic has determined that the myth has been debunked by recent research.  My advice is to exercise when it works best for you.  It may be some trial and error.  If exercising at night works best for your schedule, give it a shot!  I had a client who’s bedtime routine included a workout on his rowing machine before a shower.  If you find that it keeps you up, then either decrease the intensity and try again, or pick a different time of the day to try.  But you won’t know until you give it a shot!

I’m tired, so I won’t get into all the details about the theories behind why exercise helps sleep and why good sleep is important for overall health … maybe I will tackle that on another post!

What do you do to help you sleep well?

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