How Resistance Training Can Help You Sleep Better.
Lift yourself to a better night’s sleep!
In addition to improvements in muscle strength and physical functioning, resistance training is favourably associated with a reduction in all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease incidence among healthy adults aged 18 years and older (1).
Resistance training – sometimes called strength training or weight training – is a form of exercise intended to increase muscular strength and endurance, which includes using free weights, cables, weight machines, or even your own bodyweight.
Findings from a recent study (2) examined the link between resistance exercise and the impact on sleep. It showed that resistance training leads to improvements in how long you sleep, the quality of your sleep and the study suggested resistance exercise may offer additional benefits compared to aerobic exercise alone.
Why is this important?
It is now recognized that a sleep duration of 7–8 h per day is associated with improved health among adults and that insufficient sleep (short duration and poor quality) increases the chances of a range of adverse health outcomes, including increased risk of mortality, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, depression, cognitive impairment, osteoporosis, and poor physical functioning (i.e., falls, accidents, injuries) (3-5).
How does resistance training improve sleep?
How exactly resistance training improves sleep efficiency needs to be explored further. Possible explanations may include alterations in energy expenditure, increases in body temperature, relief of musculoskeletal pain and tension, or even improving the symptoms of depression and anxiety (6).
One possible explanation is that resistance training builds lean muscle mass. Increased lean muscle mass increases your overall metabolic rate. And that triggers your body’s need to recover (the recovery process), thereby pushing you to get more sleep. Resistance training also helps the body produce a chemical called adenosine, which causes drowsiness and promotes sleep.
Takeaway
The benefits of resistance training outweigh the harms.
Resistance training added to one’s weekly routine may offer distinct benefits for sleep efficiency and quality, and in turn improved cardiovascular health.
Current recommendations suggest that Canadian adults perform muscle-strengthening activities using major muscle groups at least twice a week.
Given the established benefits of aerobic exercise, it is recommended that adults engage in a physical activity regimen that includes both aerobic and resistance training for overall health and well-being.
Reference:
El-Kotob, R., Ponzano, M., Chaput, J. P., Janssen, I., Kho, M. E., Poitras, V. J., ... & Giangregorio, L. M. (2020). Resistance training and health in adults: an overview of systematic reviews. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 45(10), S165-S179.
Chaput, J. P., Dutil, C., Featherstone, R., Ross, R., Giangregorio, L., Saunders, T. J., ... & Carrier, J. (2020). Sleep duration and health in adults: an overview of systematic reviews. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 45(10), S218-S231.
Chaput, J. P., Dutil, C., Featherstone, R., Ross, R., Giangregorio, L., Saunders, T. J., ... & Carrier, J. (2020). Sleep timing, sleep consistency, and health in adults: a systematic review. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 45(10), S232-S247.
Institute of Medicine Committee on Sleep Medicine and Research. Colten HR, Altevogt BM, eds. Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press, 2006.
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/less-than-an-hour-of-strength-training-a-week-can-lower-your-risk-of-death