How Physical Activity Affects Your Sleep

This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases from Amazon.com and other Amazon websites.

Numerous things we do during the day affect how we sleep at night. Exercise gives you great benefits that improve your sleep quality, helping you get the rest you deserve. Read on to gain a helpful understanding of how physical activity affects your sleep and discover how this change could help you achieve a good night’s rest.

Table of Contents

Physical Exhaustion Leads to Better Sleep

The more time you exercise, the more tired your body will feel when you stop. As you work out, your body will produce adrenaline and cortisol, increasing your heart rate. The stress on your muscles will also cause inflammation.

This enhanced state makes your body feel tense and alert as you perform a physical activity, but when you stop exercising, the chemicals will stop releasing, and your body will tire. Exhaustion makes it easier to sleep, and your body will focus more on recovering as you sleep instead of any anxious thoughts that prevent you from resting.

Exercise Relieves Restlessness

Many of us experience anxiety and stress during the day, creating tension that makes us feel restless when we try to fall asleep. Physical activity affects our sleep by helping us relieve pent-up stress that troubles our minds and bodies.

Physical activity is a fantastic tool for channeling unresolved emotions and relieving tightness in certain areas of the body, such as the chest and shoulders. With this relief, it will be easier to fall asleep at night.

Your Body Will Develop a Healthier Sleep Routine

Our bodies will develop an internal response system to certain stimuli. Our brains sense when something occurs and have an internal clock that will send signals to the body to react to a time or event of the day. When we consistently work out at a particular time of the day, the body will react to the stimuli and begin producing chemicals at that time each day.

As we continue to exercise, the body will fall into a routine of feeling energetic during a certain time and feeling tired afterward, which will eventually inform our sleep patterns. Part of why working out in the morning is better for you is that your body will become accustomed to being alert early in the day and resting at night.

Exercise and sleep combine to bring more structure and health to your life. Work out to put your body and mind on a schedule that will help you sleep with ease.