Exercise and Sleep why is it important?

So these days although I consistently sleep well, I rarely sleep in. Last night I went to sleep at 10pm and woke up at 7am before sleeping in till 9 30 am! The only thing I can put it down to was the exercise I did on Saturday. Its important not to underestimate the effect some good exercise can have. On Saturday I went for a walk in the morning, I then went and helped a friend chop up and pick up a mountain of fire wood. This took several hours and I was completed knackered by the end of it. The end result however was that last night I slept like a baby!  Recently with my work and course commitments I had let my exercise regime slip somewhat.

My sleep last night reaffirmed to me the importance of regular exercise in sleep. Today I felt far more refreshed after sleeping in for an hour or 2 longer than usual. I was also able to fall asleep very easily without having to use any hypnosis or other techniques. In my work as in sleep and Counselling in Bendigo, I have found that many people who sleep poorly do very little exercise. Or I see people who exercise late at night thinking they will get to sleep. They try so hard to make themselves get to sleep, that they will do whatever it takes.

The key to exercise and sleeping well is… Not exercising too late. If we exercise too late our body temperature becomes too hot making it difficult to fall asleep. Some people also call this the feeling of being wired. Exercise during the day to a reasonable amount that makes us physically tired, at least 3-4 hours before bed is the ideal exercise to help promote quality sleep. Hopefully tonight I will sleep well with just a half an hours walk as my exercise!