New findings on the best exercise for older adults to treat insomnia

The good news is that new research published in the medical journal BMJ Evidence Based Medicine has found an effective exercise to treat insomnia.

Several studies have shown that exercise is helpful in promoting good sleep, so researchers wanted to compare the effectiveness of different exercise interventions in improving sleep quality and reducing the severity of insomnia in patients with insomnia.

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3 Highly Effective Exercises to Treat Insomnia

Scientists from China, in collaboration with experts from North South University (Bangladesh), conducted a review of 22 studies, including 1,348 participants, looking at 13 separate interventions, of which 7 were exercise-based: yoga, tai chi, walking or jogging, aerobic exercise combined with strength training, strength training alone, aerobic exercise combined with therapy, and mixed aerobic exercise. These programs lasted from 4 to 26 weeks.

Results have found that some exercise-based interventions appear to be effective when compared with existing treatments.

Specifically, practicing yoga can significantly increase total sleep time by nearly 2 hours and improve sleep efficiency by nearly 15%. This exercise also reduces the time it takes to wake up in the middle of the night by nearly 1 hour and shortens the time it takes to fall asleep by about half an hour.

Walking or jogging can significantly reduce the severity of insomnia, according to the medical news site News Medical.

While tai chi increases total sleep time by more than 50 minutes and reduces middle-of-the-night awakenings by more than half an hour, it can also shorten the time it takes to fall asleep by about 25 minutes.

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Best Exercises to Treat Insomnia

Further analysis found that tai chi worked significantly better than existing treatments, according to News Medical.

The researchers explain:

Tai Chi focuses on controlling your breathing and relaxing your body, while also helping to reduce sympathetic nervous system activity. The combination of meditative movements and mindfulness can promote emotional regulation and reduce anxiety. It can also help limit the production of inflammatory substances over the long term.

Meanwhile, yoga, with its focus on body awareness, breath control, and attention training, can alter brain activity, thereby reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms that often interfere with good sleep.

Walking or jogging can improve sleep by increasing energy expenditure, limiting production of the stress hormone cortisol, improving emotional regulation, promoting the secretion of the sleep hormone melatonin, and increasing the amount of deep sleep.

The authors concluded: These findings further highlight the therapeutic potential of exercise in the treatment of insomnia, suggesting that it may be used as an effective treatment.