0
0
A groundbreaking new study reveals that engaging in light exercises like chair squats and calf raises during the evening can help extend sleep by up to 30 minutes. This discovery offers a healthful alternative to prolonged sitting and may help mitigate risks associated with diabetes and heart disease.
A New Perspective on Evening Exercise
Traditionally, rigorous exercise before bed has been discouraged. However, researchers from the University of Otago have found that short bursts of light activity can lead to better sleep. This world-first study, published in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine and funded by the Health Research Council, involved participants completing two four-hour evening intervention sessions of prolonged sitting, and sitting interrupted with three-minute activity breaks every half hour.
Benefits of Light Evening Exercise
The study revealed that after participants completed the activity breaks, they slept for 30 minutes longer. Lead author Jennifer Gale, a PhD candidate in the Department of Human Nutrition, highlights the risks of prolonged sitting, including increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and death. Gale notes, “For many of us, our longest period of uninterrupted sitting happens at home in the evening. In our previous studies, we found that getting up and doing 2-3 minutes of exercise every 30 minutes reduces the amount of sugar and fat in your bloodstream after a meal.”
Gale adds, “Many sleep guidelines tell us we shouldn’t do longer bouts or higher intensity exercise in the hours before sleep, so we wanted to know what would happen if you did very short bouts of light intensity activity repeatedly throughout the evening.”
Simple Exercises for Better Sleep
Primary investigator Dr. Meredith Peddie, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Human Nutrition, explains that the exercise intervention involved three exercises: chair squats, calf raises, and standing knee raises with straight leg hip extensions. “These simple, bodyweight exercises were chosen because they don’t require equipment or a lot of space, and you can do them without interrupting the TV show you are watching,” Peddie says. “From what we know from other studies, you could probably get a similar effect if you walked around your house, marched on the spot, or even danced in your living room – the most important thing is that you get out of your chair regularly and move your body.”
Implications for Sleep and Health Guidelines
The finding that these exercises resulted in longer sleep is significant because insufficient sleep can negatively affect diet and is associated with heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Dr. Peddie points out, “We know higher levels of physical activity during the day promote better sleep, but current sleep recommendations discourage high-intensity exercise before bed because it can increase body temperature and heart rate, resulting in poor sleep quality. It might be time to review these guidelines as our study has shown regularly interrupting long periods of sitting is a promising health intervention.”
This study, titled “Evening regular activity breaks extend subsequent free-living sleep time in healthy adults: a randomised crossover trial,” was published on 16 July 2024 in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine. The findings suggest that light evening exercises could be a simple and effective way to improve sleep quality and overall health.
