I recently came across this article published recently that was a systematic review, and meta analysis that sought to examine whether there is any influence of exercise intervention on insomnia.
Why they chose this topic?
The authors state that about 10% of the European population suffer from insomnia, however though prevalent, the pathophysiology causing insomnia are not fully understood yet. Furthermore, patients with insomnia have a higher risk of developing psychiatric disorders eg. depression, anxiety.
Currently the first line of treatment is cognitive behaviour therapy for insomnia, which has proven to be effective, but does not fully resolve the insomnia in many of the patients.
In this review, 19 randomised controlled trial studies were included, and results showed a significant improvement for objective sleep parameters.
In many of the studies, the intervention included was purely aerobic– ie. walking/jogging/cycling (in 73.7%). Three studies combined strength and aerobic exercise, and one used aquatic fitness or yoga.
With regards to frequency of exercise done- in most studies there were 3 sessions per week (52.6%), five or more per week (15.8%), or two or four per week at 10.5% each. In the other two studies, the number of sessions varied between one and five, and two and five per week.
Further studies would need to be done to see what is the minimum time of exercise, the optimum time of exercise required, and the best modality of exercise for helping with insomnia.
Age wise, the mean age of participants in the different studies used ranged from 26 to 68 years. Interestingly, there was a higher treatment effect in studies that had a higher mean age of participants.
Their meta-analysis found that exercise interventions have a positive effect on sleep parameters– and a higher treatment effect was found in increasing intensity of the intervention, higher mean age, and greater proportion of female participants.
TLDR: There is some promise in exercise being helpful in treating insomnia, but further research needs to be done on best modality, and optimal duration of exercise to impact sleep parameters.
Reference: Riedel A, Benz F, Deibert P, et al. The effect of physical exercise interventions on insomnia: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Med Rev. 2024;76:101948. doi:10.1016/j.smrv.2024.101948
