Physical Wellness

Is Exercise Better Than Sleep?

By R. Siva Kumar | Update Date: Dec 09, 2015 09:13 AM EST

Now should you sleep or should you not? Is exercising better than sleeping?

There isn't really a solid answer for this questionn, according to MSN Health and Fitness. In a day, it would help to get involved in two hours of rest. Still, it might work out better if you exercise too!

Those who think that sleep is better would advocate more sleep and less exercise. Christopher Kline, an exercise and sleep researcher at University of Pittsburgh's Physical Activity and Weight Management Research Center, said that there is some link between sleep and exercise. Still, there is no study that tells you that better sleep would improve the exercise the following day. Hence, while there is some connection, nothing concrete has been established.

"A couple of studies that have looked at the day-to-day relationships between exercise and sleep in adults have found that better sleep is associated with greater exercise behavior the next day, but in these same studies exercise is rarely associated with better sleep the subsequent night," he said.

Another study conducted in 2013 examined 2,000 people, explaiming that those who prefer to exercise rather than sleep displayed better positive health outcomes leading to better cardiovascular health. A few of those involved in the study population also registered reduced insulin levels and higher regulatioin of insulin release.

In one more study in 2015 involving 200,000 participants, scientists said that for those who slept less than seven hours, "replacing one hour of walking or exercise with one house of sleep was linked to a seven percent greater mortality risk". Moroever, for a person who slept for more than seven hours, "swapping exercise for sleep" increased the mortality risk by 18 percent.

Hence, exercise does seem to score higher. Kline said that he would opt for exercise over sleep, but only if he has slept well through the previous night!

It is important, then, to maintain the balance.

© 2023 Counsel & Heal All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

Join the Conversation

Real Time Analytics