Why going to bed earlier could boost your fitness

Struggling to meet your fitness goals? You may be setting yourself up for failure before the day begins. See the simple change you can make.

Researchers have analysed data collected by almost 20,000 volunteers, who wore wearable fitness trackers for a year.

Struggling to meet your fitness goals? You may be setting yourself up for failure before the day has even begun.

Researchers have analysed data collected by almost 20,000 volunteers, who wore WHOOP wearable fitness trackers for a year, to investigate the link between sleep and exercise patterns.

The Melbourne-led study found early bedtimes were linked to greater physical activity the next day, while night owls clocked up less exercise.

Monash University researcher Dr Josh Leota said the difference was “pretty dramatic”.

“Someone who typically goes to bed at 9pm did around 30 more minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity the next day compared to someone who regularly stayed up until 1am,” he said.

When compared to people who hit the sack at 11pm — the average time — the early bed-timers still averaged an extra 15 minutes of exercise.

He said even when people slept “the same total number of hours” as typical for them, but went to bed earlier, they were more likely to exercise for longer the next day.

“It’s a reminder that timing really matters when it comes to building healthy habits,” he said.

Monash University researcher senior author Dr Elise Facer-Childs said their findings, which were published on Tuesday morning, were consistent across different populations.

“Sleep and physical activity are both critical to health, but until now we didn’t fully grasp how intricately connected they are in everyday life,” she said.

An early bed time may be the key to meeting your exercise goals.

Dr Leota said several factors could influence night-owls drop in physical activity levels.

“When people stayed up later than usual, they tended to move less the next day,” he said.

“Standard 9-to-5 routines can clash with the natural sleep preferences of evening types,

leading to social jetlag, poorer sleep quality, and increased daytime sleepiness – which can

all reduce motivation and opportunity for physical activity the next day.

“Going to bed earlier than usual may actually help you be more physically active the next day. “So rather than thinking of sleep as something that just helps you recover from exercise, it might also be something that sets you up for it.”

He said the findings carried “meaningful implications for public health” and offered a “strong case for treating sleep timing as a key part of exercise promotion”.

“Right now, most health guidelines treat sleep and exercise separately,” he said.

“We know sleep and exercise are both extremely important for health — but what’s exciting here is just how tightly connected they are.

“Rather than just promoting sleep and physical activity independently, health campaigns could encourage earlier bedtimes to naturally foster more active lifestyles.

“A holistic approach that recognises how these two essential behaviours interact may lead to better outcomes for individual and community health.

“Small changes in one behaviour may unlock improvements in the other.”

The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Originally published as Why going to bed earlier could boost your fitness