According to a recent study, published in Scientific Reports journal, workout and exercise not only helps in promoting endurance and strength, but may also help improve the quality of your sleep at night. The researchers from Pennsylvania State University, US observed that teens who exercised during the day tend to sleep better and longer in comparison to those who don't workout at all.
"Adolescence is a critical period to obtain adequate sleep, as sleep can affect cognitive and classroom performance, stress, and eating behaviours," said Lindsay Master, data scientist at Pennsylvania State University, US.
"Our research suggests that encouraging adolescents to spend more time exercising during the day may help their sleep health later that night," Master added.
The study was conducted on 417 US teenagers. The participants of the study wore accelerometers on their wrists and hips for one week to measure sleep and physical activity. As per the findings of the study, teens who performed an extra hour of workout during the day, had about one percent greater sleep experience at night, fell asleep 18 minutes earlier and 10 minutes longer than usual.
"You can think of these relationships between physical activity and sleep almost like a teeter totter," noted Orfeu Buxton, Professor at Penn State.
"When you're getting more steps, essentially, your sleep begins earlier, expands in duration, and is more efficient. Whereas if you're spending more time sedentary, it's like sitting on your sleep health: sleep length and quality goes down," Buxton asserted.
Apart from this, the researchers also stressed that the beneficial effects of exercise and sleep go hand in hand.
"...if we can encourage people to engage in more physical activity and better sleep health behaviours on a more regular basis, it could improve their health over time," Buxton affirmed.
"One of the strengths of this study was using the devices to get precise measurements about sleep and activity instead of asking participants about their own behaviour, which can sometimes be skewed," Master pointed out.
"The hip device measured activity during the day, and the wrist device measured what time the participants fell asleep and woke up, and also how efficiently they slept, which means how often they were sleeping versus tossing and turning," she noted.
In order to workout effectively and efficiently, it is important to fuel your body with the right nutrients. A good stamina and endurance capacity can make you feel more energised and productive during your workout sessions.
It is important to fuel your body with the right nutrients