Can Jogging Help to Overcome Insomnia?
Can Jogging Help to Overcome Insomnia?

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Can Jogging Help to Overcome Insomnia?

Can Jogging Help to Overcome Insomnia?

Exercise to help menopausal women to overcome insomnia is a debated topic. Simply put, insomnia is when a person has difficulty either getting to or staying asleep or waking up and not being refreshed. This is a common complaint during the transition that women go through in mid-life. Finding ways to overcome insomnia can feel impossible.

There are many foods such as cherries, dairy products and bananas that are believed to stimulate sleep and there is also the buzzword of stress to deal with insomnia. But, does exercise work? Can jogging help to overcome insomnia? This is what we’ve been looking into, and here are the answers.

Jogging and insomnia

Are sleep and exercise related?

Multiple studies and reports, including one from the ‘American Academy of Sleep Medicine’, have showed that there is a correlation between regular exercise and a reduction of insomnia. The studies tend to show that through exercise, tension will be dropped and this reduces body temperature – making it easier to sleep, and stay asleep.

How strenuous should the exercise be?

Whilst adding exercise to your lifestyle helps you sleep better at night, you should be careful in regards to how you are exercising. Dramatic increases are not necessary, and in many ways this can have a negative effect. The best option is to try and raise the heart for around half an hour, about five times a week, and this should improve the rest you get.

When should you exercise?

Be sure to consider the time of exercise. Morning exercise has been found to have no significant correlation to sleeping better and too close to bedtime it will make sleeping difficult. Late afternoon or mid-evening jogging followed by a warm bath has been known to increase sleeping.

Things to remember

Ensure that you take moderate exercise. Exercise has been found to improve sleep quality. It can put an end to sleep medications. Consider other exercises – these include skipping, kickboxing, cycling and walking. Try to do it six days a week. Strength training can also help. Don’t do exercise immediately before bed.

More about jogging to help overcome insomnia

Today, jogging is increasingly becoming a popular form of exercise worldwide. With more people looking to get fit and the convenience of running around your local estate it is cheap and effective. Helping to deal with insomnia, it also reduces stress and helps against many other menopausal symptoms. Click on the following link for more information about insomnia.

Other Related Articles:

Sources:
  • Breus, Michael. "Menopause and Sleep". MedicineNet.
  • Love, Susan M.D. "Menopause and Hormone Book". New York: Three Rivers Press Z, 2003.
  • Walsleben, Joyce M.D. "Ask the sleep expert: menopause and insomnia". National Sleep Foundation.
  • "Your Guide to Healthy Sleep". National Institute of Health, April 2006.