Want to Sleep Longer? Do These Exercises at Night, New Study Says

A new study suggests that doing simple exercises before bed can help you sleep about 30 minutes longer each night. This challenges the old belief that exercise before bed makes it harder to sleep.

The Study

Researchers from the University of Otago in New Zealand found that short bursts of light activity in the evening can improve sleep. Their findings, published in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, show that evening exercise doesn’t disrupt sleep quality.

Method

Participants in the study included 28 non-smoking adults under 40 years old, who were mostly sedentary due to their jobs. They wore fitness trackers for seven days, recording their sleep and activities. They also completed two evening sessions in a lab: one with continuous sitting and one with three-minute exercise breaks every 30 minutes for four hours. The exercises included chair squats, calf raises, and standing knee raises with straight leg hip extensions.

Findings

The participants who did the exercises slept an average of 27 minutes longer than those who only sat. They averaged 7 hours and 12 minutes of sleep compared to 6 hours and 45 minutes. Bedtimes stayed the same, but wake times differed, with the exercise group waking up at 8:06 a.m. versus 7:35 a.m. for the sitting group. There were no significant differences in uninterrupted sleep between the two groups.

Expert Insights

Meredith Peddie, a senior lecturer in human nutrition and study author, explained that these simple exercises don’t require equipment or much space. The key is to get out of your chair and move regularly, which helps reduce sugar and fat levels in the bloodstream after meals.

This study is one of the first to explore how evening resistance exercise breaks affect sleep quality and physical activity patterns in healthy adults. Despite its small size and lab setting, the study provides valuable insights. Experts recommend seven to nine hours of sleep per night to reduce the risk of chronic conditions like obesity, heart disease, and depression.

References

• BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine
• University of Otago Study on Evening Exercise and Sleep