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Dancing around the house can increase your sleep by 30 minutes, shows study
Physical activities are essential to avoid an array of health issues and also to get better sleep. Exercising at the right time is crucial for optimal results.
While it’s not advisable to work out before bedtime, indulging in light-intensity exercises and taking up a fun activity is shown to improve your sleep.
Easy exercises help you sleep better at night
Challenging the age-old advice to avoid intense physical activities in the hour before bedtime, researchers decided to test the impact of short bursts of light activities on sleep.
The study published in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine reacquired participants to do a three-minute activity once in half-hour during four hours of sitting in the evening.
The exercises during the breaks involved chair squats, calf raises, and standing knee raises with straight leg hip extensions, ScienceDaily reports.
The finding showed a better sleep outcome among participants who indulged in the brief exercises; they slept 30 minutes longer.
Lead author Jennifer Gale, a PhD candidate in the Department of Human Nutrition said that previous studies indicate a similar effect if you walked around your house, marched on the same spot, or just danced in your living room during breaks from prolonged sitting. Easy much?
“We know that for many of us, our longest period of uninterrupted sitting happens at home in the evening. In our previous studies, we have found that getting up and doing 2-3 minutes of exercise every 30 minutes reduces the amount of sugar and fat in your bloodstream after a meal,” she said.
3 habits for a good night’s sleep
Your lifestyle plays a major role in your sleep pattern. A new study found that using your phone before sleep isn’t as bad as screen time while in bed.
Similarly, other healthy practices can help you achieve a good night’s sleep. Naturopathic doctor Janine Bowring lists three ways to rest better, including limiting your water intake before bedtime.
While it’s recommended to drink more fluid during the day to avoid waking up in the night to empty your bladder, finishing your dinner three hours before hitting the sack is also effective.
As well as drinking less fluids at night, she also recommends training your bladder, which helps you control the urge to go to the bathroom.
She suggests delaying your urge to pee by ten minutes throughout the day assuring that it doesnt cause any complications like UTI and training your brain to control the feeling, so you dont have to wake up at 3 AM to urinate.
