Weight training is more beneficial for sleep quality than aerobic exercise

Published on 04/03/2022 14:04

Determining the goals you want to achieve when starting a new type of physical activity is essential for the results to be favorable, since different types of exercise have different effects and benefits for the human body. This is why a study published on Friday (4/3) by physicians from the American Heart Association could become an asset for physical physics educators and People who are looking to start a new businessin general.

The researchers found that, When it comes to sleep qualityResistance training is more effective than aerobic exercise in equivalent sets. To reach this conclusion, the professionals evaluated the performance of 386 adult patients divided into four groups: people who did not exercise; Those who did aerobic exercise Those who did resistance training. And a group with a hybrid series, with the previous two species combined.

All were monitored for 12 months, with three weekly 60-minute sessions in the prescribed manner. For the mixed group, there was 30 minutes of exercise in each method. The severity analyzed was ‘moderate to strong’. Participants in the aerobic group were able to choose between treadmills or three types of bikes. In the group that made the resistance, volunteers chose between groups that worked the legs, biceps, hips, and others.

In parallel, the researchers periodically applied questionnaires to all groups to assess the respondents’ sleep quality. The analysis was broken down into four criteria: duration, efficacy, latency (the time it takes a person to fall asleep after lying down), and the presence of sleep disturbances.

At the start of the study, 35% of the participants slept poorly and 42% slept less than seven hours a night. In these cases, those who did weight training were able to increase their sleep time by an average of 40 minutes versus an increase of 23 minutes, in the case of people who exercised walking and the like. The increase was smaller for the hybrid group, 17 minutes, similar to the control group, who slept an additional 15 minutes on average.

Only the patients who did resistance exercise and combined training improved sleep efficiency. Latency decreased slightly, three minutes, among those who did the weight training, but it did not change in any other group. Surprisingly, the overall quality of sleep improved for everyone, including those who did not exercise.

Resistance exercises greatly improve sleep duration and efficiency, which are important indicators of quality and reflect how well a person sleeps and continues to sleep through the night. So, if your sleep has significantly worsened over the past two stressful years, consider incorporating two or more sessions of resistance training into your regular exercise routine to improve overall musculoskeletal health, as well as sleep. From the research, Angelique Brillenthen, Associate Professor of Kinesiology at Iowa State University.