How exercise resets your body clock and improves sleep patterns

How exercise resets your body clock and improves sleep patterns

Exercise improves sleep quality and helps treat sleep disorders by regulating circadian rhythms, reducing stress, and improving physiological functions such as melatonin production and autonomic balance.

Article published in a recent article in the JournalNPJ Biological timing and sleepThe researchers summarized research on how exercise, or structured physical activity, improves sleep for both those with sleep problems and healthy individuals. They emphasized that the effects of exercise on sleep are influenced by factors such as an individual's age, gender, fitness level and the type, timing and intensity of exercise.

Types of movement

The timing of exercise is more important than you think –While moderate exercise in the early evening improves sleep, intense workouts too close to bedtime can delay melatonin release and disrupt sleep onset due to increased body temperature and alertness. However, light to moderate evening exercise may not negatively impact sleep in young, healthy people.

Exercise is any form of repetitive, planned and structured physical activity. Aerobic exercise involves activities that use the body's large muscle groups, increasing the heart rate and the amount of oxygen a person uses. Swimming, cycling and walking are forms of aerobic exercise.

While aerobic exercise improves cardiovascular health, anaerobic exercise, which includes sprinting and strength training, builds muscle strength and size. Meanwhile, stretching exercises focus on improving an individual's range of motion, but evidence is mixed as to whether or not they can prevent injuries.

Dynamic exercise involves moving joints and appears to have long-term health benefits, including improved blood flow and lower blood pressure. However, static movement occurs when muscles activate without movement and can significantly increase blood pressure but build strength over time. The Journal article also noted that these different types of exercise can have different effects on sleep, with aerobic exercise generally providing the greatest benefit to sleep quality.

Benefits of exercise

Exercise is crucial for weight regulation because it prevents excessive gains and can support weight loss by burning calories and balancing calorie expenditure and intake. It reduces the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and depression. Regular exercise also improves cardiovascular health, improves cardiac recovery and reduces resting heart rate.

Beyond the physical benefits, exercise also improves mood and energy. It increases energy levels by improving the delivery of nutrients and oxygen to tissues. Meanwhile, exercise improves mood, reduces stress, and improves relaxation, especially when it comes in the form of activities that a person enjoys. Research has shown that exercise can reduce levels of cortisol, a stress hormone linked to sleep problems, while increasing melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep cycles.

Not enough exercise has been linked to chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease, which have become leading causes of global mortality.

How exercise improves sleep

A strong heart for better sleep –Regular exercise improves vagal tone (parasympathetic nervous system activity), lowers resting heart rate, and reduces cardiovascular stress during sleep, contributing to deeper, more restorative sleep—particularly in older adults.

In healthy people, exercise improves sleep efficiency, which is defined as the ratio of the time a person spends to the total time sleeping in bed.

Specifically, exercising between four and eight hours before bed can reduce wakefulness during sleep and help people fall asleep faster. However, the review highlighted that exercising for less than four hours before bed can delay melatonin release and increase body temperature, potentially making it more difficult to fall asleep. Regular exercise also improves overall sleep quality and helps people sleep longer.

Over time, exercise improves sleep hygiene, namely the habits that help people sleep well. This leads to stable sleep-wake cycles and improves the regulation of the body's circadian rhythms. Because exercise acts as a “zeitger” (a factor that influences the body’s biological clock), it can help reset disrupted circadian rhythms, especially in those who experience sleep disruption due to shift work or jet lag.

Exercise can also indirectly improve sleep by reducing stress and improving mood. Regular and consistent exercise reduces stress, depression and anxiety. By reducing heart rate, exercise calms the body and makes sleep easier. It also regulates hormones like cortisol and melatonin, which are linked to sleep patterns.

Treatment of sleep disorders

Researchers examined the benefits of exercise for relieving sleep problems. Exercise has psychological benefits and reduces the emotional stress and anxiety associated with disordered sleep. It can also reduce sleep disordered breathing and improve autonomic and hormonal imbalances that worsen sleep quality.

Regarding specific sleep disorders, people with insomnia may benefit from moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, which improves sleep onset, time spent, and overall sleep quality. The review also noted that exercise may be more effective when combined with sleep hygiene interventions, such as:

Another condition that can hinder sleep quality is restless leg syndrome (RLS), a neurological condition that causes an uncontrollable urge to move the legs. Aerobic exercise can also reduce symptoms of RLS, including throbbing, pain, and itching in the legs. The study highlighted that the benefits of exercise for RLS are due to improved blood circulation and neuromuscular function.

For people with sleep apnea, which causes breathing to stop and start repeatedly during sleep, researchers recommend combining weight loss with exercise to reduce the severity of the condition and improve function and alertness during the day. Importantly, the review found that regular exercise, even in the absence of significant weight loss, can improve sleep apnea symptoms by increasing autonomic nervous system regulation and reducing inflammation.

Conclusions

Could exercise replace sleep medication? – –Research suggests that exercise interventions improve sleep quality and duration in a similar manner to some sleep medications, with fewer side effects and long-term benefits—particularly for insomnia, restless leg syndrome, and sleep disorders.

While existing studies on the relationship between exercise and sleep are promising, the researchers identified opportunities to apply these findings and avenues for future research.

Long-term studies are needed to understand how different durations, intensities, and types of exercise affect sleep patterns. Different populations should be included to identify tailored and effective interventions for different demographic groups. The review also called for more research into the molecular mechanisms underlying exercise's effects on sleep, such as: B. the effects on brain function and immune responses.

There is still much that is not known about the physiological mechanisms that underpin exercise's effects on sleep quality and circadian rhythms, particularly in patients with chronic sleep disorders. The systemic and molecular effects of exercise on sleep also need more exploration.

Current research can be applied to interventions to improve the health of athletes and the public. For athletes, optimizing sleep is critical for recovery and performance, and the review found that personalized sleep monitoring protocols are being incorporated into training programs.

Physical activity should be promoted as a non-pharmacological intervention for the general public, but clear guidelines for intensity, frequency and timing should be provided for different age groups. The researchers emphasized the importance of personalized exercise prescriptions that take into account a person's age, fitness level and existing sleep disorders to maximize benefits.

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