Exercise is no quick cure for insomnia
August 15, 2013
Science Daily/Northwestern University
Exercise is a common prescription for insomnia. But spending 45 minutes on the treadmill one day won't translate into better sleep that night, according to new Northwestern Medicine® research.
"If you have insomnia you won't exercise yourself into sleep right away," said lead study author Kelly Glazer Baron, a clinical psychologist and director of the behavioral sleep program at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "It's a long-term relationship. You have to keep at it and not get discouraged."
This is the first long-term study to show aerobic exercise during the day does not result in improved sleep that same night when people have existing sleep problems. Most studies on the daily effects of exercise and sleep have been done with healthy sleepers.
The study also showed people exercise less following nights with worse sleep.
"Sleeping poorly doesn't change your aerobic capacity, but it changes people's perception of their exertion," Baron said. "They feel more exhausted."
The study will be published August 15 in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. Baron conducted the study with coauthor Kathryn Reid, research associate professor of neurology at Feinberg and senior author Phyllis Zee, M.D., the Benjamin and Virginia T. Boshes Professor of Neurology at Feinberg and director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
"This new study shows exercise and sleep affect each other in both directions: regular long-term exercise is good for sleep but poor sleep can also lead to less exercise. So in the end, sleep still trumps everything as far as health is concerned," Zee said.
Baron decided to analyze the daily effect of exercise after hearing her patients with insomnia complain the exercise she recommended didn't help them right away.
"They'd say, 'I exercised so hard yesterday and didn't sleep at all,'" Baron said. "The prevailing thought is that exercise improves sleep, but I thought it probably wasn't that simple for people with insomnia."
Why does it take time for exercise to impact sleep?
"Patients with insomnia have a heightened level of brain activity and it takes time to re-establish a more normal level that can facilitate sleep," Zee said. "Rather than medications, which can induce sleep quickly, exercise may be a healthier way to improve sleep because it could address the underlying problem."
The study participants were older women, who have the highest prevalence of insomnia. Exercise is an optimum approach to promote sleep in an older population because drugs can cause memory impairment and falls.
Baron thinks the results also could apply to men because there is no evidence of gender differences in behavioral treatments for insomnia.
For the study, Baron performed an analysis of data from a 2010 clinical trial (by the same group of Northwestern researchers on the current paper) that demonstrated the ability of aerobic exercise to improve sleep, mood and vitality over a 16-week period in middle-age-to-older adults with insomnia. She and colleagues examined the daily sleep data from 11 women ages 57 to 70.
The key message is that people with sleep disturbances have to be persistent with exercise.
"People have to realize that even if they don't want to exercise, that's the time they need to dig in their heels and get themselves out there," Baron said. "Write a note on your mirror that says 'Just Do It!' It will help in the long run."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130815084841.htm
Extra Sleep Improves Athletic Performance
June 10, 2008 —
Science Daily/American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Getting extra sleep over an extended period of time improves athletic performance, mood and alertness, according to a research abstract that will be presented on June 9 at the SLEEP 2008 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS) in Baltimore, Md.
“These results begin to elucidate the importance of sleep on athletic performance and, more specifically, how sleep is a significant factor in achieving peak athletic performance,” said lead author Cheri Mah of the Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic and Research Laboratory. “While this study focuses specifically on collegiate swimmers, it agrees with data from my other studies of different sports and suggests that athletes across all sports can greatly benefit from extra sleep and gain the additional competitive edge to perform at their highest level.”
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080609071106.htm
Sleep Preference Can Predict Performance of Major League Baseball Pitchers
June 11, 2010 —
Science Daily/American Academy of Sleep Medicine
A Major League Baseball pitcher's natural sleep preference might affect how he performs in day and night games, according to a research abstract presented June 9, 2010, in San Antonio, Texas, at SLEEP 2010, the 24th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC.
"These results are important as they are potentially giving insight into an entirely new way to grade or classify an athlete, in this specific case a pitcher," said Winter. "This study may provide insight as to which pitchers would be best in a given situation based upon when the game is being played. For example, a critical game being played in the evening might be a better situation to pitch an evening-type pitcher versus a day-type pitcher."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100609083223.htm
Sleep Extension Improves Athletic Performance And Mood
June 10, 2009 —
Science Daily/American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Athletes who extended their nightly sleep and reduced accumulated sleep debt reported improvements in various drills conducted after every regular practice, according to a research abstract that will be presented on June 8, at Sleep 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.
Results of the study indicated that sleep extension in athletes was associated with a faster sprinting drill (approximately 19.12 seconds at baseline versus 17.56 seconds at end of sleep extension), increased hitting accuracy including valid serves (12.6 serves compared to 15.61 serves), and hitting depth drill (10.85 hits versus 15.45 hits).
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090608071939.htm
Extra Sleep Improves the Athletic Performance of Collegiate Football Players
June 9, 2010 —
Science Daily/American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Getting extra sleep over an extended period of time improves athletic performance, alertness and mood, according to a research abstract presented June 8, 2010, in San Antonio, Texas, at SLEEP 2010, the 24th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC.
Results indicate that football players' sprint times improved significantly after seven to eight weeks of sleep extension. Average sprint time in the 20-yard shuttle improved from 4.71 seconds to 4.61 seconds, and the average 40-yard dash time decreased from 4.99 seconds to 4.89 seconds. Daytime sleepiness and fatigue also decreased significantly, while vigor scores significantly improved.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100608091858.htm
Regular Daily Exercise Does Not Increase Total Sleep Time
June 8, 2009 —
Science Daily/American Academy of Sleep Medicine
According to a research abstract that will be presented on June 8 at Sleep 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, days with increased activity were followed by nights with lower total sleep time (TST), while nights with lower TST were followed by increased activities during the next day.
"It has long been recommended, even championed, that getting exercise is part of the recipe for improved sleep. Our data do not support that notion," said Eliasson. "The longest sleep and best sleep efficiency occurred after days with low non-exercise exertion. Similarly, we expected that better-rested subjects would be more inclined to get exercise or have busier days; however, better-rested subjects got less exercise and had less calorie expenditure. After relatively more sleep (more than six hours), all measures of exertion decreased."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090608071937.htm
Moderate Exercise Can Improve Sleep Quality of Insomnia Patients
June 12, 2008 —
Science Daily/American Academy of Sleep Medicine
An acute session of moderate aerobic exercise, but not heavy aerobic or moderate strength exercises, can reduce the anxiety state and improve the sleep quality of insomnia patients, according to a research abstract that will be presented on June 11 at SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).
"These findings indicate that there is a way to diminish the symptoms of insomnia without using medication," said Passos. "This study is the first to look at the importance of using physical exercise to treat insomnia, and may contribute to increased quality of life in people with one of the most important kind of sleep disorders around the world."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080611071129.htm