I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately, and I want to start exercising to help. When’s the best time of day to exercise to sleep well?
Aerobic exercise? Here is the conclusion of a study based on 20 prehypertensive subjects:
But it’s relatively irrelevant when it comes to making a recommendation for one particular individual. Your best bet is trial and error.
Can you give more details about your current level of fitness? Not all exercises have the same benefits. Depending on your specific situation, different kinds of exercises will help more than others.
Certain exercises are inherently relaxing. They can be done right before bed and will help you sleep. These are things like walking, yoga, stretching, etc.
Strenuous exercises should be done well before going to bed since they are energizing and will raise your heartrate and metabolism. But these kinds of exercises will produce the most physiological changes in your body which can combat conditions that interfere with quality sleep. One common problem is being overweight, which can contribute to breathing problems during the night.
But regardless of trying to fix your sleep, you should include exercise in your regular activities to maintain good health. Too often people just look at exercise to fix a single issue (e.g. body shape, sleep, etc.) rather than a necessary component of overall good health. You might end up seeing more benefits from becoming more fit in general rather than trying to find the perfect exercise for this specific issue.