SPOKANE, Wash. — Researchers have said sleep, exercise and nutrition all impact one another, and that may leave many people wondering if their workout routine could impact their shut eye.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, sleep, exercise and nutrition are the building blocks to good health, so it only makes sense that they impact one another. However, just how they impact one another has been long researched.
According to Professor Hans Van Dongen with Washington State University Spokane's Sleep and Performance Research Center, it is not always true that you sleep better when you exercise but that is the case for some people.
Professor Van Dongen said you use both physical and mental energy when you exercise. Physical energy is used because your body is working hard and mental energy is used, especially if you are playing sports, because they often require some use of hand-eye coordination or sophisticated strategy.
"When you use more of that during the day, either because you are engaged in a busy schedule or because you're exercising, it makes it very intense, then the brain and the body will call for sleep make up, to restore the tissue and to restore the energy reserves that you need to be active again the next day," Van Dongen said.
According to a poll that was part of a 2013 study done by the National Sleep Foundation, people who said they exercised did report better sleep than people who had not exercised.
Vigorous exercisers also reported having the best sleep and non-exercisers were reportedly the sleepiest.
