Exercise has proven to be one of the best ‘sleep tonics’ a person can have. If insomnia is having its way with you, perhaps today’s excerpt can help.

Investigators studied 23 sedentary adults, mostly women aged 55 years and older, who had a hard time falling asleep or staying asleep and also reported impaired daytime functioning.

The participants were randomly placed in one of two groups.

One group exercised for two 20-minute sessions four times a week and the other did a 30-40 minute workout four times a week. This went on in both groups for 16 weeks, with participants exercising to 75% of their maximum heart rate on at least two activities, such as riding a stationary bicycle, walking, or exercising on a treadmill.

In a control group, participants didn’t exert themselves physically but only mentally, taking part in recreational or educational activities, such as attending a cooking class or listening to a museum lecture. This group met for about 45 minutes, three to five times a weeks, also for 16 weeks.

Researchers say the participants who exercised reported that their sleep quality improved, raising their diagnosis from poor to good sleeper. They also reported fewer depressive symptoms, more vitality, and less sleepiness in the daytime.

Lead author Kathryn Reid, PhD, of the Department of Neurobiology and Physiology at Northwestern University, says drug-free treatment is best for insomnia because it eliminates the potential of sleep medications interacting with other drugs a person might be taking.

Source: “Exercise Helps You Sleep.” By Bill Hendrick. http://www.webmd.com/