A recent study has found that incorporating regular activity breaks in the evening can lead to improved sleep quantity and quality in healthy adults. The study, a randomised crossover trial, involved participants completing two 4-hour interventions in a laboratory setting: prolonged sitting and sitting interrupted with 3-minute bouts of bodyweight resistance exercise every 30 minutes.
The results showed that compared to prolonged sitting, the regular activity breaks increased mean sleep period time and time spent asleep by approximately 30 minutes on the night of the intervention. Interestingly, there were no significant effects on other aspects of sleep quality such as sleep efficiency, wake after sleep onset, and number of awakenings.
In addition, the study found that the subsequent 24-hour and 48-hour physical activity patterns were not significantly different between the interventions. This suggests that incorporating evening activity breaks does not disrupt overall physical activity levels.
The findings of this study add to the growing body of evidence that evening exercise does not negatively affect sleep quality. Previous research has shown that high-intensity exercise prior to bed can result in poorer sleep quality, but the current study suggests that short bouts of resistance activity performed throughout the evening may actually be beneficial to total sleep time.
The potential benefits of regular activity breaks in the evening extend beyond sleep improvement. Research indicates that these breaks can also have a positive effect on postprandial glucose and insulin responses in healthy adults. Future research should explore the feasibility of implementing regular evening activity breaks in everyday life and the long-term impact on sleep and cardiometabolic health.
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