The exercise and sleep connection

Exercise can help improve sleep quality and quantity. More specifically, moderate to high-intensity exercise can be beneficial for sleep, as it can reduce the time that it takes for you to fall asleep and improves the quality of your sleep cycles.

The benefits of exercise for sleep may be more apparent when you exercise during the morning or afternoon, as evening workouts can raise your core body temperature and make it harder for you to fall asleep.

Exercise also has a number of benefits that indirectly improve your sleep. When you are physically active, it can reduce your psychological stress, which may make it easier for you to get to sleep in the evenings. It can aid weight management, which lowers the risk of weight-related sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea.

Almost any form of exercise is beneficial for sleep, whether it's weight lifting, low-intensity steady-state cardio, high-intensity interval training, swimming, yoga, or sports. Exercising three or more times a week has been linked to better sleep outcomes than exercising once a week or less.