Find out how increasing your physical activity can improve your sleep schedule and in turn, improve your mental health here!
Sleep is an essential part of our mental health that is can be easily overlooked often.
Why is sleep so important?
Sleep disturbance is a common indicator for a decline in mental health. Many are searching for a non-pharmaceutical way to improve their sleep in hopes of that improving their mental health. We are expected, as adults, to get a total of 8 hours of sleep per night. If we are not getting this amount of sleep, things such as our mental health could potentially be on the decline. Especially in children, sleep is an essential part of development as well as physical and emotional health (Jin-Shei Lai et al, 2022).
Getting in your adequate amount of sleep is a priority—along with the other multitude of health requirements that happen while you are sleep, memory consolidation, clearance of brain metabolites, and restoration of nervous, immune, skeletal, and muscular systems are just a few to name (Kline, 2014).
How does physical activity effect sleep?
Changing your sleep schedule to a more effective one can promote a healthier lifestyle. Exercise is a way that that can improve sleep and mental health while cohesively having minimal side effects, minimal cost, and a high success rate (Kline, 2014)
In a recent study that examined these proclamations, "Reid et al17 found that 4 months of aerobic exercise training in a sample of older adults with insomnia significantly improved sleep quality while also reducing daytime sleepiness and depressive symptoms" (Kline, 2014).
For the most extensive results, first find an exercise that suits you best. Whether that be lifting weights, running, pilates, or yoga, any of these will be sufficient. Moderate exercise for about 12 weeks can have a 25 percent improvement of subjective and objective sleep and improvements in quality of life such as depressive symptoms, anxiety, and fatigue (Kline, 2014).
References
Lai, Blackwell, C. K., Tucker, C. A., Jensen, S. E., & Cella, D. (2022). Measuring PROMIS (R) Physical Activity and Sleep Problems in Early Childhood. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 47(5), 534–546. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsac028.
Kline CE. The Bidirectional Relationship Between Exercise and Sleep: Implications for Exercise Adherence and Sleep Improvement. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. 2014;8(6):375-379. doi: 10.1177/1559827614544437.
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