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According to the article, it’s the exercise that’s so beneficial for sleep quality that drugs might no longer be necessary, not “being in shape” but “getting or staying in shape”. Makes sense to me.

I like that the results are from a longitudinal study that spans more than 30 years and involves 30,000+ participants. That’s a better standing than most studies have.

I went from fat and drunk all the time to reasonably fit and exercising 45-120 minutes/day over several years.

Of course I sleep better now. It was probably giving up alcohol that improved my sleep the most, but the unexpected result is my actual sleeping schedule changed. Before it was impossible to get to sleep before 10:30 and could sleep in as late as I had time for. Now I'm ready for sleep by 9:30 and it's not possible to sleep in past 6:15. I'm an actual "morning person" now which is super weird.

Wearing yourself out is a good way to get sleepy

Works every single day. One side perc to being an electrician. Just started wearing the tracking watch get about 10 miles a day average distance plus all the working and lifting. But being in an office all day on a pot of coffee yeah prob a tad restless and charged up by bedtime

Being in shape and staying in shape are the same thing. Fit people aren’t magically fit. It’s something you work on daily or almost daily

I would mention that if you have a sleep disorder related to atony, it can cause further sleep disturbance. This is due to the learning aspect of sleep where you will act out what you've been doing. If you have heavily memorized physical patterns you can repeat them while sleeping. Most people don't have this issue but putting it out there for the rare cases.

I'm also in a trade and always wondered to what degree being perpetually busy counted for exercise. Walking around is effortless but climbing up and down the mezzanines kinda sucks, right? Bending conduit and pulling wire isn't effortless but not quite the rowing machine at the gym either. Then again you're doing this kinda thing for 8 hours. I get great sleep though even though I wouldn't say I was exhausted unless I'm working 6/10s or something.

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That’s awesome. I also do wonder if people who sleep better exercise more?

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I slept horrible when I was quite overweight but still decent physical condition. Like having 2-3 hard workout sessions a week.

I moved my diet around and lost 15kg.. idk if it was the weight or diet or a combination, But it really changed my quality of sleep

It’s the best kind of exercise. Sitting at a desk all day every day then going for a jog three times a week is a poor approximation of being active.

Now, that job isn’t the best form of strength training, so it depends on your goals.

In the long run, you are absolutely correct.

There is a transitional period of a few months to a couple of years where you’ve stopped training but haven’t completely lost the adaptations to strength and endurance yet, so perhaps you could tell the difference during that time period. I doubt this type of study can tease that apart, though.

Agreed, and it would definitely be unethical to create those conditions intentionally.

No one “needs” a sleeping pill.

Would be interesting to study why being in shape did not benefit women as much. Would that suggest that something like anxiety plays a stronger role with women?

Yeah I’m up at 7 with or without it an alarm, I used to need 5 of them.

Plus I’m jumping out of bed in the morning now

Is it possible that people who sleep well are more likely to have the energy to exercise?

Your privilege is showing

Try going four days without sleep (due to medical conditions) and then see how you feel

I usually work out 6 days a week. If I skip a day I have trouble falling asleep and have irregular bowel movement.

Between exercise and heavy manual labor I am up before the birds and asleep within three seconds of hitting the pillow. Since I was a kid.

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It's possible that people that exercise sleep well, and are more likely to have the energy to exercise again.

So the cycle can't start with poor sleep? Even in say an athlete who develops a sleep disorder or a child with night terrors?

Genuinely asking

I'm just guessing as I'm not a physiologist, but I would say an athlete would still go training regardless of how bad they slept. An athlete has more reasons than sleep to keep training, and I wouldn't be surprised if many of them do develop sleep disorders due to overtraining among other things.

But for even a regular person, I'd say once you really understand and feel the difference on your physical wellbeing, which leads to better mental wellbeing, it just makes sense to keep exercising even if you don't feel like it. It always feels better after a good gym sesh.

It’s a great way to be active! Add in some strength training/balance and you’re golden.

I love exercising but I am much less likely to do it if I haven’t slept well, maybe a self perpetuating cycle