An Investigation on the Effect of Exercise on Insomnia Symptoms

Insomnia affects the daily activities of the sufferers and reduces attention and memory. Cognitive behavioral therapy is an expensive treatment and is not applicable to all patients, and long‑term treatment with sleep medication can have side effects such as drug dependency. As an alternative form of non‑pharmacological treatments, the effect of exercise therapy on improving the symptoms of insomnia is addressed in the current study.

A total of 32 patients diagnosed with insomnia participated in the study, from which 16 received combined resistance‑aerobic exercise therapy. The rest of the patients comprised the control group. The intervention group went through a 12‑week intervention in the form of aerobic exercise for 3 days a week and resistance training for another 3 days a week. Patients’ sleep quality was assessed by the Pittsburgh test before and after the intervention.

The results showed that combined aerobic‑resistance exercise can improve sleep quality in patients with insomnia as well as increase subjective sleep quality and actual sleep duration, and decrease daytime dysfunction due to sleeping problems.

This study shows that, along with other insomnia treatments, exercise can improve the sleep quality of patients.