Effective Exercises for Better Sleep and Recovery

A good night’s sleep is essential for health and well-being. Many sleep hygiene practices that don’t involve taking medication help with restorative rest. For example, maintaining a consistent bedtime, optimizing the sleep environment (i.e. keeping it cool, minimizing light & noise, avoiding cell phones), limiting caffeine, and getting natural light exposure are effective strategies.

Physical activity is another powerful tool. Specifically, targeted exercise can help regulate circadian rhythms, reduce stress, and promote deeper, more restful sleep.

How Exercise Impacts Sleep

Body temperature follows a circadian rhythm during sleep dropping early in the evening before sleep, falling until about 2-4 o’clock AM, then gradually rising until waking. Exercise increases core temperature, leading to a more rapid decline in temperature post-exercise, hastening sleep onset and deepening sleep.

Exercise also mitigates the impact on stress and anxiety, improving the balance in the body’s autonomic nervous system which reducing the “fight or flight” response. Exercise also impacts other mechanisms like inhibiting stress hormone—specifically cortisol—which improves sleep quality and promotes the releases sleep-producing chemicals in the brain, including adenosine–a sleep promoting substance—and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) from muscles.

Exercises You Can Do For Better Sleep

Here are specific exercises shown to improve sleep:

Aerobic Exercise And Stretching

Walking, jogging, cycling, and swimming help reduce stress and improve sleep latency (how long it takes to fall asleep). Targeted stretching can also release muscle tension and promote relaxation. Additionally, high-intensity interval training—called HIIT— improves sleep quality.

A report in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine studied older adults (age 40 years+) with poor sleep quality. Half were randomized to an exercise class of 40 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise and 10 minutes of stretching three times a week for 12-weeks. Compared to controls, the exercise group experienced significant improvements in subjective sleep quality as measured by surveys and objective sleep quality via physiological parameters. An added benefit was improved heart rate variability, an indicator of better stress resilience, cardiovascular health, and well-being.

A Sleep Medicine study examined the impact of HIIT on perceived sleep quality and daytime sleepiness in people with moderate-severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)– where the airways become blocked during sleep, leading to pauses in breathing (apneas) and disrupted sleep cycles. People were randomized to HIIT consisting of five periods of four minutes of on a treadmill at 90–95 % of maximum heart rate with with three minutes of walking at 50–55% of the maximum heart rate, three times per week for 12 weeks. Compared to a control group, the HIIT group had improved sleep quality and less daytime sleepiness.

Strength Training

Weightlifting or bodyweight exercises like squats, push-ups, and resistance band workouts enhance overall physical health and can reduce nighttime restlessness.

The linkage between strength training and sleep was studied in a randomized trial. Eighteen participants engaged in 55 minutes of training three times a week for 12 weeks with three sets of 10-12 repetitions with one-minute intervals between sets. Compared to controls, the strength training group improved their sleep quality as well as sleep duration (by 42 minutes per night).

Mind-Body Exercises

Gentle yoga poses, deep breathing, and mindful movement can help relax the nervous system, making it easier to fall and stay asleep. A cross-sectional study in China evaluated the effect of long-term yoga exercises of sleep quality and quality of life in people aged 60 and older, which demonstrated large improvements in both parameters among people who regularly engaged in yoga.

Creating An Exercise Plan To Improve Your Sleep Quality

Several types of individuals can benefit from leveraging exercise to improve sleep. For people with insomnia, regular physical activity can help improve sleep onset and duration. In those suffering from stress or anxiety, exercise can be a natural stress reliever that promotes relaxation. In older adults, exercise can help prevent the sleep disruptions that tend to increase with aging. Shift workers should also consider regular exercise to sleep better and more deeply despite irregular schedules. Finally, athletes and active individuals can improve muscle recovery and improve their sleep efficiency.

When creating an exercise plan to optimize sleep, its important to consider following a few principles:

1. Exercise earlier in the day when possible. Avoiding intense workouts within three hours of bedtime is important to give the body time to wind down.
2. Ideally incorporate morning activity in the outdoors which allows for natural light exposure which helps boost melatonin production at night.
3. Balance movement and relaxation—combine strength and cardio with yoga and breathwork.
4. Prioritize consistency—aim for at least 30-45 minutes of movement most days.

Exercise is a powerful, natural way to improve sleep quality. Whether through cardio, strength training, yoga, or mindful movement, staying active during the day can help regulate circadian rhythms, lower stress levels, and promote restful sleep. Incorporating exercise into routines and following additional sleep-enhancing habits can lead to deeper, more rejuvenating sleep and help you wake up feeling more refreshed.