(Press-News.org) CORVALLIS, Ore. – People sleep significantly better and feel more alert during the day if they get at least 150 minutes of exercise a week, a new study concludes.
A nationally representative sample of more than 2,600 men and women, ages 18-85, found that 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a week, which is the national guideline, provided a 65 percent improvement in sleep quality. People also said they felt less sleepy during the day, compared to those with less physical activity.
The study, out in the December issue of the journal Mental Health and Physical Activity, lends more evidence to mounting research showing the importance of exercise to a number of health factors. Among adults in the United States, about 35 to 40 percent of the population has problems with falling asleep or with daytime sleepiness.
"We were using the physical activity guidelines set forth for cardiovascular health, but it appears that those guidelines might have a spillover effect to other areas of health," said Brad Cardinal, a professor of exercise science at Oregon State University and one of the study's authors.
"Increasingly, the scientific evidence is encouraging as regular physical activity may serve as a non-pharmaceutical alternative to improve sleep."
After controlling for age, BMI (Body Mass Index), health status, smoking status, and depression, the relative risk of often feeling overly sleepy during the day compared to never feeling overly sleepy during the day decreased by 65 percent for participants meeting physical activity guidelines.
Similar results were also found for having leg cramps while sleeping (68 percent less likely) and having difficulty concentrating when tired (45 percent decrease).
Paul Loprinzi, an assistant professor at Bellarmine University is lead author of the study, which was conducted while he was a doctoral student in Cardinal's lab at OSU. He said it is the first study to examine the relationship between accelerometer-measured physical activity and sleep while utilizing a nationally representative sample of adults of all ages.
'Our findings demonstrate a link between regular physical activity and perceptions of sleepiness during the day, which suggests that participation in physical activity on a regular basis may positively influence an individual's productivity at work, or in the case of a student, influence their ability to pay attention in class," he said.
Cardinal said past studies linking physical activity and sleep used only self-reports of exercise. The danger with this is that many people tend to overestimate the amount of activity they do, he said.
He added that the take-away for consumers is to remember that exercise has a number of health benefits, and that can include helping feel alert and awake.
"Physical activity may not just be good for the waistline and heart, but it also can help you sleep," Cardinal said. "There are trade-offs. It may be easier when you are tired to skip the workout and go to sleep, but it may be beneficial for your long-term health to make the hard decision and get your exercise."
### END
Physical activity impacts overall quality of sleep
2011-11-23
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Carbon mitigation strategy uses wood for buildings first, bioenergy second
2011-11-23
Proposals to remove the carbon dioxide caused by burning fossil fuel from the atmosphere include letting commercially managed forests grow longer between harvests or not cutting them at all.
An article published in the journal Forests says, however, that Pacific Northwest trees grown and harvested sustainably, such as every 45 years, can both remove existing carbon dioxide from the air and help keep the gas from entering the atmosphere in the first place. That's provided wood is used primarily for such things as building materials instead of cement and steel – which require ...
Choice Hotels Recognises its Best UK Hotels
2011-11-23
Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), the global hotel group behind the Comfort, Quality, and Clarion brands and one of the largest and most successful lodging franchisors in the world, has announced the winners of its various "Hotels of the Year" awards.
It has awarded Comfort Hotel Great Yarmouth the title of "UK Comfort Hotel of the Year", Quality Hotel Edinburgh Airport the "UK Quality Hotel of the Year" award and Clarion Hotel Carrickfergus the "UK Clarion Hotel of the Year" accolade.
The hotels were judged to ...
The Radisson Blu Hotel, Kuwait Hosts The Concert of Hope
2011-11-23
The Radisson Blu Hotel, Kuwait recently hosted the third Concert of Hope. This beautiful musical black tie event under the patronage of H.E. The British Ambassador Mr. Frank Baker O.B.E. was in association with The Kuwait Chamber Philharmonia.
Held in the Al Hashemi Ballroom at the hotel, the evening of musical delight featured opera singing sensation from 'Arabs Got Talent', Abdulrahman Al Mahmeed as well as a variety of other musical talent.
The recent winner of 'Arabs Got Talent', Abdulrahman Al Mahmeed is known to hold his audiences spellbound as he sings a varied ...
Special delivery: Nematode-infected insect cadavers
2011-11-23
This press release is available in Spanish.
A custom-made machine for packaging mealworms infected with beneficial nematodes could improve the delivery, timing and use of the wormlike organisms as biological control agents.
The machine is the result of a cooperative research and development agreement involving US Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and Southeastern Insectaries, Inc., of Perry, Ga.
The Heterorhabditis and Steinernema nematodes being used can infect and kill a wide array of insect crop pests, including Japanese beetles, vine weevils, root borers ...
New class of drugs for the reversible inhibition of proteasomes
2011-11-23
This press release is available in German.
As the "recycling plant" of the cell, the proteasome regulates vitally important functions. When it is inhibited, the cell chokes on its own waste. Cancer cells, in particular, are very sensitive because they need the proteasome for their uncontrolled growth. Biochemists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) have now identified the lead structure of a new class of drugs that attacks the proteasome in an unusual way. New medication could be developed on the basis of this previously unknown binding mechanism. The scientists ...
The National Trust Reveals Consumers Need a Leg Up with Farming Knowledge
2011-11-23
The National Trust has revealed the results from a new survey* which show that the vast majority (93 per cent) of people in Great Britain don't know the best time of year to enjoy eating British lamb.
Only seven per cent of respondents correctly identified autumn as the time for tucking into one of Britain's favourites, with half (49 per cent) choosing spring as the best time to serve lamb - the time of year when most lambs are born.
The research marks six months of the National Trust's mass on-line MyFarm experiment at its 1,200 acre organic farm at Wimpole in Cambridgeshire. ...
Monroe North Carolina Hotel Announces a Special 20% Savings Deal for Guests
2011-11-23
Super 8 Monroe North Carolina Hotel announces a special savings package for their hotel guest to enjoy. Guests who book their stay of 3 or more nights, from now through November 22, 2011 will receive a 20% discount off Best Available Rates (excluding taxes and incidentals). Stays must be completed by November 30, 2011. This offer cannot be combined with any other special rates and is subject to availability.
As an additional bonus, now Wyndham Rewards members can earn DOUBLE miles or points with the stays you book until November 18th. All stays must be completed by ...
Great Lakes fish feed on invading shrimp
2011-11-23
The latest invader of the Great Lakes—Hemimysis anomala, or more commonly the bloody red shrimp after its bright red spots—may become a new food source for fish, allaying concerns about how it will impact native fish populations.
"Forecasting how an invader will affect the growth and production of a specific native fish species is very relevant to conservation groups and government agencies hoping to conserve those fish," says Biology graduate student Mike Yuille.
Mr. Yuille is the lead author of a study that suggests for the first time that several native fish species ...
Smithsonian scientists use fossil feathers reveal lineage of extinct, flightless ibis
2011-11-23
A remarkable first occurred recently at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History when ornithologists Carla Dove and Storrs Olson used 700- to 1,100-year-old feathers from a long extinct species of Hawaiian ibis to help determine the bird's place in the ibis family tree. The feathers are the only known plumage of any of the prehistorically extinct birds that once inhabited the Hawaiian Islands.
Discovered with a nearly complete skeleton, the feathers retained enough microscopic structure to allow the scientists to confirm the classification of the bird, known ...
Anorexia nervosa study finds inner conflicts over the 'real' self that have treatment implications
2011-11-23
"It feels like there's two of you inside – like there's another half of you, which is my anorexia, and then there's the real K, the real me, the logic part of me, and it's a constant battle between the two." - 36 year old study participant with anorexia nervosa.
(Garrison, NY) People with anorexia nervosa struggle with questions about their real, or "authentic," self – whether their illness is separate from or integral to them – and this conflict has implications for compulsory treatment, concludes a study in the Hastings Center Report. The researchers also conclude that ...