Futurity: NWU Exercise relieves insomnia
We’ve all suspected as much… But there is a catch – you must exercise regularly for SEVERAL MONTHS! Here’s the data to PROVE that daily exercise = better sleep!
NORTHWESTERN (US) — It can take four months of regular aerobic exercise to help insomnia sufferers get a good night’s sleep, researchers say.
“If you have insomnia you won’t exercise yourself into sleep right away,” says lead study author Kelly Glazer Baron, a clinical psychologist and director of the behavioral sleep program atNorthwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “It’s a long-term relationship. You have to keep at it and not get discouraged.”
The key message is that people with sleep disturbances have to be persistent with exercise. “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,” says senior author Phyllis Zee, a neurology professor at Feinberg and director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.(Credit: Ana C./Flickr)
