Morning Exercise Improves Sleep

A new study may have a found an answer for women who have trouble sleeping?early morning exercise. Data from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Seattle, Wash) suggest that stretching and exercise improve sleep quality in overweight women. Lead author Anne McTiernan, MD, PhD, noted that the beneficial effect of moderate-intensity activity on sleep quality depends on how much exercise is done and the time of day it is done.

The findings, published in the journal Sleep (January 2004), showed that 30 minutes of daily moderate-intensity exercise helped women have less trouble falling asleep, compared with women who exercised less. On the flip side, women who exercised in the evening had little or no improvement in sleep onset or quality.