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The benefits of regular exercise are almost too numerous mention. In addition to reducing your risk of developing heart disease, high blood pressure, some kinds of cancer, and many other diseases, exercise helps improve your mood and reduce stress. As a wonderful side effect, it also improves the quality of your sleep.

Contrary to popular belief, exercise doesn’t help you sleep by making your body tired. People who have trouble sleeping aren’t helped even when they are physically exhausted.
Instead, exercise alleviates physical stress and certain medical disorders that may affect sleep. Here are just a few of the reasons you might want to add exercise to your life if you’re having trouble getting a good night’s sleep.

Exercise helps you fall asleep faster. In one recent study, a regular exercise routine cut the time it took to fall asleep in half—from 28 to 14 minutes. The study focused on a group of formerly sedentary people who had completed a 16-week program of moderate exercise.

Exercise helps you sleep longer. The same study found that exercise added an average of more than 45 minutes to the participants’ main sleep blocks.

Exercise improves sleep quality. To wake up feeling refreshed, you need to spend a good proportion of your time in bed in deep sleep. A 1994 study found that people who completed an aerobic training course experienced a 33 percent increase in deep sleep.

Exercise at certain times can help shift your biological clock. Recent research suggests that exercising offers a bonus for people who must be up at night, either for work or for personal obligations. It shifts circadian rhythms, indirectly leading to a better mood and alertness on the work schedule or shift you choose to follow.

If you’re sedentary, making exercise a regular part of your life will take a little work, a lot of commitment, and some perseverance. The benefits, though, will be well worth the effort: You’ll not only improve your overall health, you may just improve the quality of your sleep. When it comes to exercising in order to increase your chances of getting a good night’s sleep, it’s best to focus on increasing the amount of cardiovascular exercise you get.

That means walking, running, playing singles tennis, swimming, and bicycling, to name just a few activities. At the same time, if you prefer yoga and weight-training, by all means, start there. Whatever you do to increase your physical fitness and help yourself relieve stress will improve the quality and quantity of sleep you obtain.

Start slowly. Don’t overdo. If you try to put in two hours a day every day during your first week exercising, you’ll only end up sore and discouraged and unlikely to want to work out the next week, The best way to stick to exercising is to start small and build gradually: 20 to 30 minutes are all you need to start improving your level of fitness.

Time your exercise sessions with care. If getting to sleep at night is difficult for you, try exercising in the late afternoon or early evening. Exercise helps raise the body temperature, helping set the stage for sleep. Do not exercise within 3 hours of bedtime, however. You’ll only stimulate your muscles and increase your alertness, making it more difficult than ever for you to fall asleep. Some people find exercising in the late afternoon is best, since muscular performance is best and tolerance for physical stress appears to be highest at this time.

Set realistic goals for yourself. If you’ve been sedentary for a number of months or years, deciding to train for next month’s marathon by running 10 miles every morning would be counterproductive and even dangerous to your health. Instead, set goals just barely within your reach. Achieving them will give you sense of pride and self-confidence that’s sure to keep you motivated.

Add variety. To alleviate boredom, try alternating activities. Take a dance class one session, bicycle outside the next, or perform yoga postures every other morning. By varying your routine, you’re more likely to keep it going.

The Benefits Of Exercise And Sleep
Exercise Before Sleep