Sleep or Exercise: What's Better?
A recent article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, asked a great question: What's better, sleep or exercise?
The article was a Q and A from a working mom who said that she was getting up early to work out and this was reducing her sleep. Her question was what should she do.
In my opinion this is a difficult question to answer as there are several factors to consider. First you must have a good idea what your "Sleep Number" is. What I mean by this is how much sleep do you feel you need in order to feel well rested? It is individual for everyone.
Once you establish that number only then do I think you can understand what to do next. So let's just say it is 6.5 hours, then if you go to bed at the right time you can wake after 6.5 hours and exercise (hopefully before anyone gets up). The other option would be to work out in the evenings after your kids have gone to bed. This may be easier if you have some equipment in your home.
Another interesting point was raised in that there is research to suggest that exercise will let you sleep better. This information begs the question if you exercise and get "better" sleep do you need less of it?
Unfortunately no one at this time really knows the answer to this question. If I were to guess I would think that this may help, but only a little. Your body will still need a certain amount of sleep no matter how much exercise you do (and in some cases over-exercising can negatively affect your sleep).
Related Topics: Lose Weight With Morning Exercise, What is Your Sleep Personality?
Technorati Tags: sleep, exercise, bettersleep
The article was a Q and A from a working mom who said that she was getting up early to work out and this was reducing her sleep. Her question was what should she do.
In my opinion this is a difficult question to answer as there are several factors to consider. First you must have a good idea what your "Sleep Number" is. What I mean by this is how much sleep do you feel you need in order to feel well rested? It is individual for everyone.
Once you establish that number only then do I think you can understand what to do next. So let's just say it is 6.5 hours, then if you go to bed at the right time you can wake after 6.5 hours and exercise (hopefully before anyone gets up). The other option would be to work out in the evenings after your kids have gone to bed. This may be easier if you have some equipment in your home.
Another interesting point was raised in that there is research to suggest that exercise will let you sleep better. This information begs the question if you exercise and get "better" sleep do you need less of it?
Unfortunately no one at this time really knows the answer to this question. If I were to guess I would think that this may help, but only a little. Your body will still need a certain amount of sleep no matter how much exercise you do (and in some cases over-exercising can negatively affect your sleep).
Related Topics: Lose Weight With Morning Exercise, What is Your Sleep Personality?
Technorati Tags: sleep, exercise, bettersleep
1 Comments:
My son, who is 22 months old, was diagnosed with Central Sleep apnea with associated oxygen desaturations. Can you tell me what to expect as far as treatments and what to do? He stopped breathing 7 times. The longest at the time was 13 seconds and the least being 6 seconds.
thanks,Stacey
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