Weight training is more efficient than aerobic exercise for sleep quality

Practicing resistance exercises, which work on muscle strengthening – such as the famous weight training – can be better than doing aerobic activities to improve sleep duration and quality, according to a study released by the American Heart Association.

And this has a direct impact on heart health, as poor and irregular sleep is associated with a higher risk of high blood pressure, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular events such as stroke and heart attack.

Although aerobic activity is often recommended to improve sleep, there was little work on the effects of other types of training.

“There is no doubt that physical activity is beneficial for health and that poor sleep is directly related to cardiovascular diseases. The results of this work show that aerobic exercises are also important, but open a new line of possibilities for indication strength training as an alternative to a sedentary lifestyle and in the quality of sleep”, said cardiologist Luciana Janot, from the Rehabilitation Center at Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, who works in the area of ​​exercise cardiology.

Luciana points out, however, that in relation to exercise and sleep, it is also important to be aware of the time of execution and its intensity. Some people may be more sensitive and more alert when training at night, so it is suggested not to train just before bed as exercise is a stimulant and can make it difficult for a person to fall asleep.

division into groups

To reach this conclusion about the impact of weight training on sleep, the researchers evaluated 386 inactive adults, aged between 35 and 70, who were overweight or obese and had high blood pressure – risk factors for cardiovascular problems. They were divided into four groups: those who did only aerobic exercises; only resistance exercises (weight training); a group that did a hybrid series with the two types of exercises combined and a control group, that did not exercise.

For 12 months, all participants underwent 60-minute supervised training three times a week in the type of exercise established for that group. Members of the aerobics modality could choose between doing a treadmill, cycling or using elliptical machines and people in resistance training did sets of eight to 16 repetitions that worked their muscles on various types of equipment.

To assess participants’ sleep, the researchers previously applied the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index questionnaire, which analyzes five factors, and repeated at the end of one year:

• sleep quality
• duration in hours
• Efficiency (time in bed)
• Latency (time to fall asleep)
• Sleep disorders (such as apnea)

According to the researchers, the rate of adherence of participants to physical exercises was 83% – a very good number in the evaluation of cardiologist Luciana. Overall, sleep quality improved and the number of sleep disorders decreased in all groups surveyed, including the control group.

Among those who slept less than seven hours a night, sleep duration increased, especially among those who did weight training: 40 minutes, on average, versus 23 minutes among the aerobic group, 17 minutes among those who did combination exercise and 16 minutes in the control group.

The time to fall asleep (latency) decreased by about 3 minutes. The results are still considered preliminary, as the study has not yet been peer-reviewed, but they already serve as a basis for reinforcing the importance of physical exercise for health – whether aerobic or strength/resistance.

“When I think about the impact of exercise on the heart, the capacity for vasodilation, the appearance of new vessels, physical conditioning, aerobic training has always been the gold standard. But our biggest problem is still a sedentary lifestyle. exercise. And the chronic effect of exercise improves health as a whole, no matter the type or time of day. And this study shows that bodybuilding can be another tool for this achievement”, concluded the cardiologist.