Exercise Your Way To A Good Nights Sleep
January 9th, 2009

Sleep deprivation is a very common problem in our world today. In fact the Better Sleep Council surveyed a thousand adult respondents and discovered that more than thirty percent of them confessed to not getting enough sleep each night. The recent survey also revealed that not getting enough sleep affected their daily performance at work and at home in terms of their ability to concentrate, their capacity for problem solving, their coordination and reaction time, their physical strength and energy levels and how they handled stress.

The short-term effects of sleep deprivation are excessive tiredness and a general feeling of irritability but studies have proven that there are long-term effects as well. In order to learn and process information one needs to be able to fall into a deep sleep and also dream. Memory also requires these things as well. The brain is capable of retaining new information for a short quantity of time and that is why it benefits tremendously from restful sleep patterns. Information learned throughout the day can be easily forgotten or lost by the brain if a person is sleep deprived.

Sleep is important to wake up feeling alert, fresh and ready to take on the day. If one wakes up feeling more tired than when one retired the night before it is definitely a sign that more hours of sleep are required. Not everyone needs the exact same amount of sleep per night as it varies from person to person with the normal amount of sleep hours being from five to ten. Incidentally studies have shown that the average adult receives seven and a half hours every night. As a person ages they don't require quite as much sleep. It is estimated that from the time that one is a baby, until a person reaches adulthood, sleep is cut in half. Teenagers though need plenty of sleep because they are still growing and are very active. Sleep experts believe teenagers require a greater amount of shuteye than adults, on average from 8.5 to 9.25 hours per night.

Exercising on a regular basis helps to improve the quality of a person's sleep and relieves the daily stresses of life. Sleep experts say that strenuous exercise is not necessary but instead all that it takes is light to moderate exercise. Research on exercise has shown that less than one-third of American adults get enough exercise every day. In fact, forty percent of adults do no form of exercise at all. A complete lack of exercise can be the cause of many health problems such as diabetes, high cholesterol and obesity.

Walking is a moderate form of exercise that is considered "low impact" because it is easy on the joints and can be done by virtually everyone. Walking is not an expensive form of exercise and only requires a good pair of walking shoes or sneakers. Walking is a workout but it is dependent on the fitness level the individual in question is starting out at. For example, for those who haven't exercised in quite some time or who are overweight they should begin with slow-paced walking, but those in better shape would need to walk more swiftly and longer to reap the benefits. The more vigorous a walking pattern one develops, the more exercise they will get. It is important to walk fast enough to really get the heart rate up!

People who engage in frequent walking admit to enjoying the benefits of physical fitness and to having improved sleep habits as well as an overall better outlook on their life. Studies have proven that walking burns the same amount of calories every hour as does running but it does not put any strain on the body.

Other types of exercises that help improve sleep include yoga, which helps center the body and soul, and jazzercise, which really gets the blood pumping. Jazzercise has been proven to be the largest exercise program across the globe and boasts 5,000 plus instructors who teach more than 19,000 weekly classes to 450,000 students in 38 countries. This form of exercise is growing in popularity all of the time. It is recommended that light stretching of the muscles and joints be done before any exercises are undertaken. This improves flexibility and cuts down on the incidence of injuries.

Never exercise before bedtime if you desire to have a good night's sleep. Late afternoon or early evening is the best time to set aside for exercise (the former being the very best) and exercise no less than four hours before you turn in for the night

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