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The pace of modern people's lives is getting faster and faster, and for most people, if you want to exercise, you really have to squeeze time.
Can't get up in the morning, have to go to work during the day;
The evening is probably the only time to exercise.
However, according to legend, the night sports day affects sleep...
1
Moderate exercise at night does not affect sleep
Many studies have confirmed that "night sports affect sleep" is actually a rumor, and night exercise will not affect the quality of sleep!
A study from sports medicine, one of switzerland's top sports scientific journals, tells us that moderate exercise at night basically does not have a negative impact on sleep, on the contrary, exercise at night also has a certain effect on improving sleep [1].
The result of the study was that the scientists, based on analyzing 11,717 literature, finally screening 23 truly valuable papers and meta-analyzing their data, concluded that moderate exercise such as endurance running or cycling before bed did not negatively affect sleep, but increased the time spent on deep sleep.
The researchers found that testers who exercised several nights in a row slept 21.2 percent of their sleep time in deep sleep; if they didn't exercise one night, deep sleep dropped to 19.9 percent.
2
What kind of exercise intensity is considered to be the right amount of exercise?
Studies have shown that moderate exercise does not affect the quality of sleep, but what kind of exercise intensity is considered to be moderate exercise?
A study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology tells us that moderate-intensity exercise is best done at bedtime without affecting sleep quality [2].
The researchers divided 12 healthy male subjects into three groups, with the first group performing 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise within 90 minutes before they fell asleep, the second group of testers performing 30 minutes of moderate-intensity impedance exercise, and the third group of testers without any exercise.
When the subjects fell asleep and after falling asleep, the researchers measured their core body temperature and sleep quality.
Finally, the researchers found that moderate-intensity aerobic exercise or impedance exercise before bedtime did not affect the tester's sleep.
3
What time is it best to exercise in the evening?
Since the moderate amount of moderate-intensity exercise at night can improve the quality of sleep, then, everyone can exercise with confidence at night, but do you know what time of the night exercise is the most appropriate?
The team at Charles Stewart University in Australia used a study to give the best time for exercise in the evening. The researchers tested 11 participants three times to test their sleep and appetite status after exercise in the morning (6-7 a.m.), afternoon (2-4 a.m.), and evening (7-9 a.m.), and on the night of the test, the researchers also measured the sleep of all participants.
The researchers found that exercising at 7-9 p.m. not only had no adverse effect on sleep, but also had lower concentrations of Ghrelin in the testers' blood. The study also highlighted that short-term single exercise may not be associated with decreased hunger, but supporting exercise at night 7-9 a.m. did not impair sleep quality [3].
So if you can't guarantee 7-9 o'clock exercise at night, and don't want to affect the quality of sleep, can't you exercise at night?
A study of night exercise published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology stated that exercising 2 hours before bedtime did not affect sleep quality [4].
In the study, the researchers asked 18 test subjects (9 men and 9 women) to be sure to perform 1 hour of exercise at 18:30 and 20:30 at night, which ended within 2 hours and 4 hours of the testers' habitual bedtime, respectively.
It was found that exercise not only did not destroy sleep, but also improved sleep efficiency (sleep efficiency = sleep time / time in bed). So, if you can't guarantee to exercise at 7-9 o'clock in the evening, then try to choose to exercise 2 hours before bedtime.
In summary, night exercise not only does not affect the quality of sleep, but may also help suppress appetite, which is really good news.
Tonight, let's all get moving together!
Resources:
[1] Effects of Evening Exercise on Sleep in Healthy Participants: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.DOI：10.1007/s40279-018-1015-0
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs40279-018-1015-0
[2] Moderate-intensity exercise performed in the evening does not impair sleep in healthy males. DOI：10.1080/17461391.2019.1611934
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17461391.2019.1611934
[3] Evening exercise will not ruin sleep and might even reduce appetite.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190221083411.htm
[4] Effects of timing of moderate exercise in the evening on sleep and subsequent dietary intake in lean,young,healthy adults:randomized crossover study. DOI：10.1007/s00421-020-04386-6
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00421-020-04386-6
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