While many of us want to be more active, it’s easier said than done, especially with our busy schedules. Sometimes we might set goals and go all in, only to fizzle out weeks later due to our mounting responsibilities. If you’re truly staying dedicated to your fitness plan, give yourself a pat on the back and be proud, because you’ll get plenty of health benefits as a result of your efforts and commitment.
When we put in the effort, we want to get the most out of our workouts and optimize our gym time. Recently, researchers revealed a simple hack that doesn’t involve exercise, but it could still increase workout performance, make you more active, and help you get more out of your workouts, which definitely piqued my interest. Let’s check out the research. What’s the hack? Earlier bedtimes.
The study
In a recent study published in the journal Physiology, researchers wanted to further explore the interaction between sleep and exercise and how one influences the other. Can simple changes in your sleep habits, like going to bed earlier, result in meaningful improvements in not only how physically active you are the next day but also your workout performance?
Both sleep and exercise are pivotal for optimizing health, and this new study delves deeper into the connection between the two, studying further than previous short-term lab studies or self-reported sleep or exercise data. The researchers in this study used objective data from thousands of people going about their daily lives. They obtained objective sleep and physical activity metrics from wrist-worn devices.
The study outcome
Here are the study results:
- The timing and the duration of sleep are important for health and wellness.
- Bedtime is associated with exercise the next day, and falling asleep earlier than usual was linked to increased next-day moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and overall physical activity.
- Falling asleep later than usual showed the opposite and decreased next-day physical activity.
- The next-day moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was at its peak when people went to bed earlier than usual the night before, coupled with their usual sleep duration. In other words, people were the most active the next day when they got their usual amount of sleep, but they went to bed earlier than normal.
The researchers pointed out that earlier bedtimes allow for early morning workouts without losing precious minutes of sleep.
Concluding thoughts
When you sleep at night, your muscles repair and your body rests and recovers, ready for your next workout. It’s interesting to consider that adjusting your sleep could influence your exercise and vice versa.
Going to bed earlier could help you level up in the gym and increase your physical activity in general. I have to say, I find it much harder to exercise without a good night of shut-eye. Going to bed too late often means sacrificing sleep time, which can be detrimental to your workouts and leave you feeling lackluster just thinking about working out.
