Latest news with #JoshLeota
West Australian
a day ago
- Health
- West Australian
Early to bed, early to rise makes you healthy, Monash University researchers find
Early to bed, early to rise, makes you healthy, wealthy, and wise the truism goes, but Australian scientists have found a link between people who do not stay up late and better physical activity. Now researchers at Monash University have found the optimal bed time for those looking to increase exercise and physical activity when you wake is 9pm. As part of the study, those who went to bed at 9pm logged a half hour more of moderate-to-vigorous exercise the following day, compared to night owls who did not sleep until 1am. Even those who went to sleep at the study's average sleep time of 11pm recorded 15 minutes fewer physical activity the next day. In good news, the researchers also found people can alter their sleep to improve their exercise, with those who went to sleep earlier than usual and got their regular amount of sleep recording the highest levels of physical activity the next day. Nearly 20,000 sleepers were tracked via a biometric device for a year, resulting in almost six million nights of data. Monash University School of Psychological Sciences' Josh Leota said standard work day may have had an impact on those who go to be later in the evening. 'Standard 9-to-5 routines can clash with the natural sleep preferences of evening types, leading to social jetlag, poorer sleep quality, and increased daytime sleepiness — which can all reduce motivation and opportunity for physical activity the next day,' Dr Leota said. 'These insights carry meaningful implications for public health. 'Rather than just promoting sleep and physical activity independently, health campaigns could encourage earlier bedtimes to naturally foster more active lifestyles. 'A holistic approach that recognises how these two essential behaviours interact may lead to better outcomes for individual and community health.' Senior author Dr Elise Facer-Child said there was a strong relationship between sleep timing and physical activity. 'Sleep and physical activity are both critical to health, but until now we didn't fully grasp how intricately connected they are in everyday life,' she said. 'Our findings are consistent across different populations, and show that if you can get to sleep earlier than usual whilst keeping your sleep duration the same, you may be more likely to increase your physical activity the following day.'
Perth Now
a day ago
- Health
- Perth Now
Best time to go to bed if you want to exercise more revealed
Early to bed, early to rise, makes you healthy, wealthy, and wise the truism goes, but Australian scientists have found a link between people who do not stay up late and better physical activity. Now researchers at Monash University have found the optimal bed time for those looking to increase exercise and physical activity when you wake is 9pm. As part of the study, those who went to bed at 9pm logged a half hour more of moderate-to-vigorous exercise the following day, compared to night owls who did not sleep until 1am. Even those who went to sleep at the study's average sleep time of 11pm recorded 15 minutes fewer physical activity the next day. In good news, the researchers also found people can alter their sleep to improve their exercise, with those who went to sleep earlier than usual and got their regular amount of sleep recording the highest levels of physical activity the next day. Nearly 20,000 sleepers were tracked via a biometric device for a year, resulting in almost six million nights of data. Monash University School of Psychological Sciences' Josh Leota said standard work day may have had an impact on those who go to be later in the evening. 'Standard 9-to-5 routines can clash with the natural sleep preferences of evening types, leading to social jetlag, poorer sleep quality, and increased daytime sleepiness — which can all reduce motivation and opportunity for physical activity the next day,' Dr Leota said. 'These insights carry meaningful implications for public health. 'Rather than just promoting sleep and physical activity independently, health campaigns could encourage earlier bedtimes to naturally foster more active lifestyles. 'A holistic approach that recognises how these two essential behaviours interact may lead to better outcomes for individual and community health.' Senior author Dr Elise Facer-Child said there was a strong relationship between sleep timing and physical activity. 'Sleep and physical activity are both critical to health, but until now we didn't fully grasp how intricately connected they are in everyday life,' she said. 'Our findings are consistent across different populations, and show that if you can get to sleep earlier than usual whilst keeping your sleep duration the same, you may be more likely to increase your physical activity the following day.'
Arab Times
12-05-2025
- Health
- Arab Times
Late-night workouts disrupt sleep and heart health, new study finds
NEW YORK, May 12: Exercise performed too close to bedtime could negatively affect sleep quality, timing, and duration, according to a new study led by Monash University. The research, published in Nature Communications, revealed that more intense workouts near bedtime are associated with greater disruptions in sleep and nighttime cardiac activity. The study, which is the largest of its kind, discovered that exercising within four hours of bedtime led to later sleep onset, shorter sleep duration, poorer sleep quality, and higher resting heart rate coupled with lower heart rate variability. This study is the first to identify these specific associations. The research involved an international sample of 14,689 participants, with data collected over the span of one year, resulting in an analysis of four million nights of data. Participants wore multi-sensor biometric devices (WHOOP Strap) that recorded exercise, sleep, and cardiovascular data. Monash University and WHOOP researchers examined how evening exercise, the strain of the workout, and nocturnal cardiac activity—including resting heart rate and heart rate variability—were related. They found that the combination of later exercise timing and higher exercise intensity led to delayed sleep onset, shorter sleep duration, poorer sleep quality, higher nocturnal resting heart rate, and lower nocturnal heart rate variability. The results were adjusted for factors such as gender, age, weekday, season, general fitness, and the previous night's sleep. High-strain exercises include activities that significantly increase heart rate, breathing rate, body temperature, and mental alertness, such as HIIT (high-intensity interval training), football or rugby games, and long-distance running. Dr. Josh Leota, the study's lead author from Monash University's School of Psychological Sciences, emphasized the importance of understanding the link between exercise timing and sleep. He noted that intense exercise in the evening keeps the body in a heightened state of alertness, which may explain why public health guidelines have advised against late-night workouts. However, Dr. Leota pointed out that controlled laboratory studies have had mixed results, with some suggesting that evening exercise does not always disrupt sleep. He also noted that many of these studies involved small sample sizes and exercise regimens that did not place significant cardiometabolic demands on the body, questioning the validity of their findings. Dr. Leota suggested that if people wish to improve sleep health, they should aim to finish their exercise routine at least four hours before bedtime. For those who need to exercise closer to bedtime, low-intensity activities like light jogging or swimming may help minimize sleep disruption and allow the body to wind down. Dr. Elise Facer-Childs, a senior author on the study from Monash University, commented that the findings show a clear, consistent relationship between evening exercise, sleep quality, and nocturnal cardiac function. "Evening exercise—especially when it involves high levels of cardiovascular strain—can disrupt sleep, resting heart rate, and heart rate variability, all of which impair the body's recovery process," she explained. Dr. Facer-Childs highlighted the importance of the findings for public health messaging. "Our research has significant implications for how we communicate the timing, duration, and intensity of exercise. Given that two-thirds of Australian adults report sleep problems, and one in five adults fail to get the recommended seven or more hours of sleep per night, these insights are crucial for improving population sleep health." The study underscores the importance of balancing exercise routines with sleep needs, suggesting that proper timing and intensity of workouts could play a critical role in improving overall health and well-being.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
The worst time to exercise for a good night's sleep
If you'd like to sleep well tonight, you should probably avoid exercising this evening, especially if your workout will be intense. That's the takeaway from a new study of almost 15,000 active men and women. It found that exercising within about four hours of bedtime makes it harder to fall asleep and reduces how long you spend slumbering by as much as 43 minutes. Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post. The effects were most pronounced when workouts were long, intense or both, but almost any evening exercise influenced how well people slept. 'I do my best now to avoid exercising late in the evening,' said Josh Leota, a researcher at Monash University in Australia, who led the new study. But there may be ways to minimize the effects if evening happens to be the only time you can - or care to - work out. - - - The link between exercise and sleep For decades, researchers have been puzzled by the relationship between sleep and exercise. According to most past research, active people sleep better than the sedentary, but not always. Some studies suggest morning workouts improve sleep, while later workouts don't, but others seem to show any movement, at any time, helps people nod off earlier. Most of these studies have been quite small, though, often involving fewer than 20 volunteers, and relied on people's memories of when and how they worked out and snoozed. So for the new study, published in April in Nature Communications, researchers at Monash teamed up with the activity-tracker maker Whoop to parse anonymized data from 14,689 men and women aged 18 to 87 who'd worn a Whoop tracker for at least a year. (Whoop provided access to the data but 'did not have any input into the analysis or results,' Leota said.) The records included extensive details about when and how intensely people exercised every day, based on their heart rates, and also how well they'd slept that night, including when they'd nodded off, how long they'd remained asleep and the overall quality of their slumber. - - - 36 extra minutes to fall asleep The researchers were interested in how late-day exercise changes sleep - since previous studies had so often disagreed with one another. They first categorized people's workouts as light, moderate, hard or maximal, corresponding, in broad terms, to a brisk walk, easy jog, long run or prolonged high-intensity interval training. They also took note of when people worked out and mapped their sleep. Then they cross-checked. Did people sleep better or worse after they worked out close to bedtime? What if the exercise was gentle? What if they pushed themselves? The answers consistently showed that 'later exercise timing and higher exercise strain' were each strongly linked to worse sleep, the scientists wrote in the study. Even relatively modest evening workouts, such as light weight training or a gentle gym class, could somewhat disrupt sleep. But the impacts intensified along with the intensity. If people ran an after-hours half-marathon or played a rousing late-night soccer, hockey or basketball game within about two hours of their usual bedtime, they needed an average of 36 extra minutes to fall asleep. Finish that same strenuous exercise even later at night, after someone's usual bedtime by an hour or two, and he or she would need an extra 80 minutes to doze off. People also slept less, in total, after hard, evening exercise, and the quality of their sleep declined, with frequent waking, tossing and turning. - - - How to wind down after a late workout The researchers didn't look at why this happens, but they suspect people were too wound up, physiologically. Participants' tracker data showed their heart rates were still elevated hours after strenuous evening exercise, while, at the same time, their heart rate variability, which should be somewhat high, remained stubbornly low. In essence, Leota, said, people got too pumped up by vigorous, late-night workouts to easily drift off or stay asleep. 'A basic rule of thumb,' he said, 'is the harder you work out, the more time you need to give yourself to recover before going to sleep.' If you do need to exercise late in the evening, you might want to try meditation, gentle yoga or other relaxation techniques afterward to calm your revved-up body, Leota said. Even better, 'if you can exercise earlier in the day, that would be preferable,' he said. But if the evening is your best option, stick with it. 'We are definitely not discouraging exercise,' Leota said. 'For the vast majority of people, any exercise is better than no exercise. We would just recommend trying to finish as early as possible or opting for lighter workouts.' This study has limitations. It's associational, showing links between evening exercise and sleep disruption, but not that one directly causes the other. It also can't tell us whether it was evening exercise or other factors - like late dinners and exposure to bright lights - that most disrupted people's sleep. Plus, the participants had all bought and worn an activity tracker, meaning they might not be representative of the many people who don't track their lives, sleep and movements. Even with these caveats, though, the results resonate, said Kenneth Wright Jr., a professor of integrative physiology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, who studies sleep and physical activity, but wasn't involved with the new study. 'We need more studies like this one to assess the impacts of environmental and behavioral factors on sleep health,' he said. 'The findings provide support that to promote sleep health, a general recommendation to avoid intense exercise within four hours of bedtime is warranted.' Related Content For a Howard mom of three, earning her doctorate is a family victory Did McDonald's price itself out of a segment it dominated for decades? Trump tells Congress to raise taxes on the rich in budget bill
