| If you don’t get enough sleep every now and then, the next day can range from crummy to disastrous. But how about those occasions when you wake up after eight hours or so, only to feeling unrested and nowhere near refreshed? Poor-quality sleep can be just as debilitating as insufficient sleep—and sometimes more mysterious. Recent research points to a simple habit that may improve the quality of your shuteye: walking—and plenty of it! We know that regular physical activity has been shown to improve sleep, but most of the research has focused on formal exercise and on people with clinical sleep disorders. In a new study, researchers followed a group of middle-aged adults for a month, tracking their physical activity with exercise monitors and having them describe how well they slept each night. For women in particular, there was a strong link between how much they walked (as measured by both daily steps and time spent walking) and how well they slept. Your marching orders? Start walking more—for exercise, as a mode of transportation, and around the house—and know that your daytime steps may add up to better rest at night.
Source: Walk to a better night of sleep: testing the relationship between physical activity and sleep |
