YOU Docs Daily
Walk During the Day to Sleep Much Better at Night
We know we talk a lot about how important it is to get enough sleep and how vital it is to stay active. Here's a reason why: You can't have one without the other.
This news didn't rock our world. We've long known that exercise helps you sleep better. But that fact just got highlighted in neon pink, thanks to very specific data from a new study.
If you get more than 20 minutes (go for 30 minutes) of exercise a day, you won't just sleep better. You'll sleep much better, getting 65% more restorative REM sleep. You'll also have energy to burn and you’ll be more alert, which means you’ll be less likely to zone out during meetings and more likely to know what your spouse said to you 2 minutes ago. Bonus: If you're prone to leg cramps at night, you can likely kiss those goodbye. Pretty slick for just 20 minutes of walking! Go for 30 minutes. (Did we say that already?)
Other big benefits of getting 8 hours of sleep every night:
- You can stop fantasizing about naps. (You won’t need them.)
- You'll look better. "Beauty sleep" is for real. When you're sleep deprived, not only do you ooze fatigue, you also look measurably less attractive.
- You'll be younger and healthier. Averaging less than 6 hours of ZZZs makes you prone to high C-reactive protein, a warning of aging and inflammation that threaten your heart, brain, and arteries in ways that invite cancer, arthritis, and diabetes.
- You'll be slimmer.Sleep shortages stimulate your appetite, so you risk becoming tired and flabby.
Nighty-night.
Did you know that when you take a shower can affect how well you sleep?
