Sleep Following Sustained Exercise

This study was designed to assess the effect of individually calibrated sustained, static exercise on sleep. Normal subjects engaged in 80 min of static muscular activity at 40% of maximal levels. The exercise ended 2 hrs before bedtime. Standard polysomnographic measures were recorded during sleep. The time to sleep onset was significantly reduced relative to nonexercise nights. Other significant comparisons (increased slow-wave sleep and decreased movement time after exercise) were confined to the period preceding the first REM episode. The results indicated that the type of exercise may be related to the effect on sleep latency. The data supported a restorative theory of slow-wave sleep.