Evening walk may not cause sleep issues as previously thought

Business Standard: Engaging in moderate physical activity including walking, cycling or jogging in the evening does not cause sleep problems, suggest researchers.

The research challenges previous studies that suggested that sleep quality can be improved by avoiding exercise in the evening.

The findings showed that doing exercise for four hours before going to bed does not have a negative effect on sleep.

However, vigorous training within an hour before bedtime may have a negative effect on sleep.

"If doing sport in the evening has any effect on sleep quality at all, it is rather a positive effect, albeit only a mild one," said Christina Spengler, Deputy Head from the ETH Zurich in Switzerland.

In the study, published in the journal Sports Medicine, a small group of people after taking part in some kind of sport in the evening, spent 21.2 per cent of their sleeping time in deep sleep, compared to 19.9 per cent following an evening without exercise.

However, those who completed an intensive training session shortly before bedtime took longer to fall asleep. BS