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Movement and sleep
How movement positively influences our sleep
Every day we accumulate hundreds of impressions and information. To process these properly, restful sleep is essential. However, many people suffer from difficulties falling asleep in the evening or sleeping through the night and cannot offer their body the rest it deserves. Especially in winter, when the duration of daylight hours decreases, the sleep-wake rhythm can be disturbed. But what can improve our sleep? The answer is: movement.
Getting enough physical activity ensures that the body is physically occupied. This allows the body to enter the deep sleep phase more quickly, which also improves the sleeping quality.
In a study with about 2600 participants, an improvement in sleep quality of 65 percent was found with at least 2.5 hours of moderate to high-intensity physical activity per week.
Do you want to improve your sleep too? Check out our three tips.
The type of sport matters
Especially endurance sports improve the quality of sleep. When cycling, running or swimming, the body is exposed to physical activity for a longer period of time and gets moving. With weight training, on the other hand, a high intensity is only reached for a short period of time.
Pay attention to the time
After sport, the processes stimulated by the physical activity must first be reduced again. For this reason, it is better to shift your exercise sessions to the middle of the day or maximally 2 hours before sleep. Stretching with regular, calm breathing after training and/or before sleeping can also bring you and your body back to rest.
Any movement is good
If you don’t like endurance sports and prefer moderate exercise, that’s perfectly fine. Every movement has a positive effect on the sleep-wake rhythm and improves the quality of sleep. Try to incorporate more exercise into your daily routine by going for a walk during breaks, using your bike for shorter distances or making plans with friends for fun activities like ice skating or hiking.
Find the hotspots on the picture and learn how you can optimise your sleep ergonomically.
Our winter playlist for the Advent calendar
