by Tony Gjokaj November 04, 2021 2 min read
Daylight Savings is coming through this weekend, and we think it's an important time to talk about sleep.
Research has shown that sleep-deprivation is associated with mental health issues like depression and anxiety.
When I was dealing with severe bouts of depression, I had insomnia. I would end up in bed around 9 PM and wouldn't go to sleep until midnight. Afterwards, I would wake up around 3 AM and have difficulty going back to sleep.
I learned later that this was a result of having depression.
It was not until I started exercising that my insomnia went away.
Exercise helped me, and it might have the potential to help you.
So in this post, we are going to cover exercise and how it may improve your quality of sleep.
Let's dive in!
You can watch a video on this topic from our YouTube channel below.
As we alluded to earlier, there is a connection between poor exercise, insomnia, and sleep-deprivation. This is especially noted in those who are dealing with depression and anxiety.
According to a 2010 study, those with insomnia that participated in 4 days of aerobic exercise reported better quality of sleep.
If we want to get more specific, moderate-intensity exercise in general has been shown to reduce insomnia related to anxiety.
This means that this can also be applied to anaerobic exercises like weight lifting. In fact, a study noted that anaerobic exercise might possibly be a better option for improved sleep quality (compared to aerobic exercise).
Regardless, whatever it is that you do, ensure that it is moderate-intensity exercise that gets your body moving and your heart elevated.
We wanted to conclude this post with a few recommendations from us:
You'll notice that majority of the recommendations we've given in this post are similar to those in our exercise for depression post.
This is because consistent exercise and proper sleep are associated with better overall mental health.
Now with that being said, thank you for reading!
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to get in touch with us by emailing support@reforgedperformance.com.
Until next time, Reforged Warrior!
Tony is the Owner of Reforged. He is a PN1 Certified Nutrition Coach and has been in the fitness space for over a decade. His goal is to help millions exercise their way out of depression and anxiety.
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