Fight insomnia with exercise

And now for today’s not-shocking-but-still-important health news: People who exercise sleep better.

The latest word on the exercise-sleep connection comes from the National  Sleep Foundation’s 2013 Sleep in America poll. The poll shows that exercisers and non-exercisers get the same amount of sleep each night, which surprised me a little. But it’s no surprise which group reports better sleep quality.

“Vigorous, moderate and light exercisers are significantly more likely to say ‘I had a good night’s sleep’ every night or almost every night on work nights than non-exercisers,” says a foundation press release.

Vigorous exercisers get the best sleep of all, the poll shows.  Most of them say they rarely or never have symptoms associated with insomnia.  ”In contrast, one-half of non-exercisers say they woke up during the night and nearly one-fourth had difficulty falling asleep every night or almost every night,” the foundation reports.

Also notable: People who don’t exercise report more sleepiness and have more symptoms of sleep apnea, the foundation says.

To read the poll results, click here. Click here to read a story about insomnia that includes tips from Dr. Maha Alattar, a local sleep specialist.

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