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Article: Morning exercise may make sleep easier



 
 
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Old November 24th, 2003, 09:20 PM
Carol Frilegh
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Default Article: Morning exercise may make sleep easier



Monday, November 24, 2003

WASHINGTON (AP) - Older women who often have trouble sleeping may want
to consider a little workout in the morning for a better rest at night.

Morning exercisers had fewer complaints about a bad night's sleep and
those who stretched in the morning had somewhat better sleep, a new
study found. Women who exercise in the evening, on the other hand, were
more likely to be up at night.

The women didn't need much morning activity to get the benefit. "It's
like doing a brisk walk," said researcher Anne McTiernan. "Nobody is
saying people have to be athletes and do marathons."

The scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle
drew their data from a larger study of the effects of exercise in
reducing the risk of breast cancer. Because the study included survey
questions on sleep, the researchers could examine an issue that was not
part of the original project. McTiernan is principal investigator of
the cancer study as well as senior researcher on the sleep project,
whose findings were published in the November issue of the journal
Sleep.

Women in the sleep study were cancer-free and postmenopausal, ages 50
to 75, overweight or obese, and not exercising at the start of the
project. Eighty-seven were placed in the exercise program and 86 in the
stretching program. Both groups were followed for a year. Researchers
compared how well the women reported sleeping before the study started
and afterward.

Women in the exercise program did at least 45 minutes of moderate
walking or riding an exercise bike five days a week at an exercise
facility or on their own. Those who were stretching did an hour once a
week under the supervision of an exercise physiologist, and stretched
15 to 30 minutes three times a week on their own. Fifty-five percent of
all the women did their activity in the morning.

Although the exercise program was about 15 minutes a day more than
federal officials recommend as the minimum for healthful exercise, it's
still not a lot, McTiernan said. The heart rates of the exercisers were
no higher than they would get in a brisk walk, she said.

How the women did in their programs was compared with their ratings of
their ability to sleep, including whether they used sleep aids such as
pills or alcohol, whether they felt they were sleeping soundly and
through the night, and whether they fell asleep during quiet
activities.

Women who exercised averaged 70 percent better sleep and women who
stretched averaged 30 percent better sleep, the study found.

The study did not look for reasons why exercise in the morning was good
for a night's rest while exercise at night was not, or why stretching
would help at all.

The researchers suspect that exercise in the morning might set the
women's body clocks for a day of activity and a night of sleep, while
exercise at night might push back the sleep part of the sleep-wake
cycle. They speculate that the stretches might have improved sleep by
making the women more flexible and relaxed.

Exercise also increases activity hormones and creates lactic acid as a
byproduct, and both can make a body more restless, said Edward
Stepanski, director of the Sleep Disorders Service and Research Center
at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Similarly, exercise
raises temperature, while sleep requires a slight drop in temperature,
said Stepanski, who was not part of the Fred Hutchinson study.

As for why exercise might be better in morning, Stepanski also suspects
a change in circadian rhythm. Finding out whether morning exercise
benefits the body clock would be an interesting follow-up study, he
said.

--
Diva
********
There Is No Triumph Without Loss!
 




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