We know we need sleep. We know we need to exercise. Building habits that allow us to balance all the pieces of your life while getting enough sleep can be the tricky part and something we hear is a struggle for many of our clients. Sleep has such an enormous impact on quality of life and lucky for you, your efforts in the gym are doing double duty! At True 180 we like to remind clients of the incredible value of exercise beyond aesthetics or body composition goals. We’ve written about the invisible perks of exercise like longevity, immunity, metabolism and mental health.
Today we are going to zero in on 4 ways exercise improves sleep.
- Fall asleep faster. Study after study shows that people who regularly perform moderate intensity exercise three to five times a week fall asleep faster than people who are inactive. It’s important to note that this even applied to study participants who suffered from sleep disturbances like insomnia. It’s much easier to get the sleep you need if you actually fall asleep when you go to bed.
- Manage the stress that is keeping you awake. An emerging research topic between the link of exercise and sleep suggests that exercise provides a good way to manage stress and arousal levels. Amazing neurological changes occur during exercise that will come into to play if you are one of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who toss and turn with anxiety each night.
- Say goodbye to daytime drowsiness. The flipside of a great night’s sleep is having stable levels of energy throughout the day. Whether it’s kicking it in to high gear at work, chasing after your little ones at home or traveling across the world on business we know your days are jam-packed. Exercise can help you make the most of your days and cash in on blissful sleep during the night.
- Get the right kind of sleep. Most importantly data has shown exercise impacts sleep quality. In addition to helping you get enough sleep, exercise will also make sure that sleep is the deep, rejuvenating rest your body needs to repair itself, regulate metabolism, and stay healthy.
Set a goal and start tonight. You deserve rest!
If you need some help getting started with a new exercise routine – Try Us Out!