Exercise to help with chronic insomnia
Insomnia is something that millions of people suffer with. Chronic insomnia is especially bad because regularly being cheated out of sleep can produce long-term health problems, including some that are very serious. One of the things that has been shown to help people with chronic insomnia is starting a regular exercise program, and the best part is, you don’t have to become a marathon runner just to get the effects you’re looking for. Just exercising for 20 to 30 minutes a day, three to four times a week can make a big difference, and most people can accommodate that much exercise into their lives.
Why Does Exercise Work?
Although more studies are still needed to confirm the effects of regular exercise on insomnia, this is what is known so far: exercise causes your body temperature to rise, and when the temperature comes back down afterward, it is thought to make it easier for your body to relax enough to fall asleep quicker. Most of the time, insomnia is caused by stress. Since exercise relieves stress and allows your entire body to be more relaxed, it can be very effective at helping you improve the overall quality of the sleep you get.
Stress, anxiety, depression, and elevated arousal can cause you not to sleep well at night, and since regular exercise can help you in all of these areas, it is especially effective at helping you sleep better. Yet another reason that exercise is thought to help people fight insomnia is that it can affect your internal body clock, known as your circadian rhythms. If your insomnia is due to problems with your circadian rhythms, regular exercise is extremely beneficial.
What You Need to Know About Exercise and Chronic Insomnia
If you’ve ever wondered, how does exercise help those with chronic insomnia, now you know a little bit about how this happens, but it’s also important to note that more studies are needed to discover both why and how exercise might help people sleep better.
In most studies, people have to exercise regularly for a minimum of four weeks before any significant results occur, and the studies have also proven that once you start exercising regularly, you’ll have a much easier time falling asleep and staying asleep every day of the week, not just on the days that you’ve exercised.
Exercise also helps keep your muscles nice and supple, and for people whose tension and stress are kept in their muscles, this can go a long way in helping those people get a better night’s sleep each night. Naturally, regular exercise is great for both your body and soul, so exercising regularly is recommended for everyone, not just people suffering with insomnia.
The effects of regular exercise on many things, including chronic insomnia, are still being studied, but one thing is clear – exercise seems to have no negative effects on people who suffer with insomnia and indeed seems to have a lot of positive effects. Regardless of how difficult falling asleep and staying asleep tend to be for you, you owe it to yourself to give exercise a try, especially since you don’t have to go overboard with it for it to work.