Having Trouble Staying Active? Consider Adjusting Your Sleep Schedule

 

HAVING TROUBLE STAYING ACTIVE? CONSIDER ADJUSTING YOUR SLEEP SCHEDULE.

Having Trouble Staying Active? Consider Adjusting Your Sleep Schedule

Going to bed earlier may be a straightforward but efficient way to increase the amount of time you spend exercising each day, according to a groundbreaking new study from Monash University in Australia.

 

Although there isn't a clear cause-and-effect relationship, the study, which was published in PNAS, shows a strong link between going to bed earlier and being more active the next day.

 

Researchers from Monash University led the study, which used a massive dataset of wearables worn by 19,963 people over a full year, which included almost six million "night-and-day reference points" on activity levels and sleep patterns.

Researchers discovered the link between earlier bedtimes and higher levels of physical activity as a result of this enormous amount of data, providing strong support for public health campaigns.

"These findings have significant public health implications," stated Josh Leota, a psychologist at Monash University. "Instead of only encouraging sleep and exercise on their own, health campaigns could encourage earlier bedtimes to naturally foster more active lifestyles."

 

The results showed a distinct pattern: more moderate-to-intense exercise the following day was consistently associated with an earlier bedtime.

Having Trouble Staying Active? Consider Adjusting Your Sleep Schedule

 

Participants who went to bed at 9 p.m., for example, exercised for an average of 30 minutes longer than those who retired at 1 a.m., and for 15 minutes longer than those who went to bed at 11 p.m. (the average for all participants). The length of sleep also had an impact, albeit a complex one.

 
Those who slept five hours a night reported exercising for 41.5 more minutes than those who slept nine. The researchers warn that in this case, the advantages of more exercise may be outweighed by the drawbacks of sleep deprivation.

 

The finding that people who went to bed earlier than usual while still getting the same amount of sleep as usual tended to set personal records for activity time the next day was possibly the most intriguing.

 
For these observations, the researchers offer a number of explanations.
Although the study's data did not include specific wake-up times, later bedtimes may be a sign of people who are generally busier, and an earlier bedtime may lessen the chance of oversleeping or constantly hitting the snooze button.

 

"Evening types' innate sleep preferences can clash with typical 9–5 schedules, leading to higher-quality sleep, more daytime drowsiness, and social jetlag, all of which can lower motivation and opportunities for physical activity the following day," Leota says.

 

This study carefully controlled for age, body mass index, and whether the day was a weekend or a weekday. The first findings were further supported by a second, more diverse dataset of 5,898 individuals, which revealed a comparable, albeit weaker, relationship.

It's crucial to remember that even though this study shows a strong correlation, it doesn't prove causation. A person's innate tendency to be a "night owl," for example, may be one of the additional underlying causes of both later sleep and less exercise. It will take more investigation to completely separate these factors.

Elise Facer-Childs, a psychologist from Monash University, stated, "Until now, we didn't fully grasp how intricately connected they are in everyday life, even though both sleep and physical activity are critical to health."

"Our findings are consistent across different populations and demonstrate that you may be more likely to increase your physical activity the next day if you can get to bed earlier than usual while maintaining the same amount of sleep."