No exercise before bed? New study unveils easy workout plan that improves sleep

By Study Finds

Do you spend your evenings sitting on the couch binge-watching TV shows for hours? Although studies have frequently advised against working out at night, a new study suggests that getting up for short bursts of light activity could help you sleep better. Simply put, getting up and doing some exercises during the commercial breaks could result in a great night of sleep!

Researchers at the University of Otago in New Zealand found that breaking up prolonged periods of sitting in the evening with brief sessions of simple exercises extended participants’ sleep time by nearly half an hour. This intriguing finding adds to growing evidence that being active in the hours before bed may actually be beneficial for sleep, contrary to long-held beliefs.

“We know that for many of us, our longest period of uninterrupted sitting happens at home in the evening. In our previous studies we have found that getting up and doing two to three minutes of exercise every 30 minutes reduces the amount of sugar and fat in your bloodstream after a meal,” says lead researcher Jennifer Gale in a media release.

“However, many sleep guidelines tell us we shouldn’t do longer bouts or higher intensity exercise in the hours before sleep, so we wanted to know what would happen if you did very short bouts of light intensity activity repeatedly throughout the evening,” Gale continues.

The study, published in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, examined the effects of interrupting evening sedentary time on the resulting sleep and activity patterns among healthy adults. Participants completed two 4-hour evening sessions: one where they sat continuously and another where they performed three minutes of bodyweight exercises every 30 minutes.

These quick exercise breaks involved basic movements like:

• Chair squats
• Calf raises
• Knee lifts

These are activities that can easily be done at home without special equipment. After the sessions, participants went about their normal routines, and their sleep and activity were monitored.

The results showed that on nights following the exercise break sessions, participants slept an average of 27.7 minutes longer compared to nights after uninterrupted sitting. They also spent about 29 minutes more in bed overall. Importantly, other aspects of sleep quality, like the number of nighttime awakenings, were not negatively impacted.

“These simple, bodyweight exercises were chosen because they don’t require equipment, or a lot of space and you can do them without interrupting the TV show you are watching,” adds Dr. Meredith Peddie, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Human Nutrition.

“From what we know from other studies, you could probably get a similar effect if you walked around your house, marched on the spot, or even danced in your living room – the most important thing is that you get out of your chair regularly and move your body.”

The additional half hour of sleep could make a big difference for many people. After the uninterrupted sitting condition, over half of the participants slept less than the recommended minimum of seven hours. The exercise breaks helped push more people into the optimal sleep range.

The study also examined activity patterns in the 24 to 48 hours following the evening sessions. While there was a slight decrease in physical activity the next day after the exercise break condition, it was not statistically significant. The researchers believe this small reduction was likely just due to displacement from the increased sleep time.

These results add to a growing body of research indicating that evening exercise does not impair sleep as once thought. Several previous studies have found that vigorous workouts up to four hours before bed had no negative impacts on sleep quality.

However, this new study is among the first to look at the effects of shorter, intermittent bouts of lighter activity spread throughout the evening. This type of protocol may be more practical and appealing for many people compared to structured workout sessions.

“We know higher levels of physical activity during the day promotes better sleep, but current sleep recommendations discourage high-intensity exercise before bed because it can increase body temperature and heart rate resulting in poor sleep quality,” Dr. Peddie says.

“It might be time to review these guidelines as our study has shown regularly interrupting long periods of sitting is a promising health intervention.”

So, the next time you settle in for an evening of TV or screen time, consider setting an alarm to remind you to stand up and move a bit every 30 minutes. Your body – and your sleep – may thank you.

Paper Summary

Methodology

This study used a crossover design, meaning each participant completed both the uninterrupted sitting and the regular activity break conditions on separate evenings. This allows researchers to compare how individuals respond to different treatments while controlling for personal factors.

Participants wore activity trackers on their wrists to measure sleep and physical activity. They also kept sleep diaries to record when they went to bed and woke up. The study was conducted in a controlled laboratory setting for the evening sessions, but participants went home to sleep in their normal environments.

Key Results

The key finding was that participants slept an average of 27.7 minutes longer on nights after doing evening activity breaks compared to uninterrupted sitting. They also spent about 29 minutes more in bed overall. Other sleep quality measures like sleep efficiency and nighttime awakenings were not significantly different between conditions. There were no major differences in physical activity levels in the following 24-48 hours.

Study Limitations

The study had a relatively small sample size of 28 participants, most of whom were young adult women. This limits how widely the results can be applied to other groups. The controlled laboratory setting also may not perfectly reflect real-world conditions. Additionally, the study only looked at short-term effects over a couple of days – longer-term impacts are still unknown.

Discussion & Takeaways

This study challenges the common advice to avoid exercise before bed. The results suggest that light, intermittent activity in the evening may actually improve sleep duration without negatively impacting sleep quality. This could be an easy way for people to increase their sleep time, potentially improving overall health.

The researchers suggest that current sleep hygiene recommendations should be updated to reflect this and other recent evidence about evening exercise. They also see potential for developing tools or apps to help people incorporate activity breaks into their evening routines.

However, more research is needed to confirm these effects in larger, more diverse populations and to examine longer-term impacts. Future studies could also explore the mechanisms behind how evening activity breaks might influence sleep.

Source: Study Finds

StudyFinds sets out to find new research that speaks to mass audiences — without all the scientific jargon. The stories we publish are digestible, summarized versions of research that are intended to inform the reader as well as stir civil, educated debate. StudyFinds Staff articles are AI assisted, but always thoroughly reviewed and edited by a Study Finds staff member. Read our AI Policy for more information.

Top image caption and credit: Although studies have frequently advised against working out at night, a new study suggests that getting up for short bursts of light activity could help you sleep better. (Photo by Antoni Shkraba from Pexels)

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