Riding a bike has been proven to improve the quality of your sleep, but the timing of your commute matters

• Cycling is actually more likely to help deepen your sleep and improve the quality of your sleep, according to a new research journal.

• It is best to do your vigorous intensity exercises early in the evening – 30 to 60 minute sessions have been especially helpful.

Maybe you’re not the morning exercise type, so you consider switching to evening walks instead. But will it ruin your sleep? According to a new research journal in Sleep medicine reviews, cycling is actually more likely to help you deepen your sleep and improve the quality of your sleep, but when you finish that run it matters.

Researchers looked at 15 studies to find out how a single intense exercise session affects young people and middle-aged people in the hours before bed. Separating the data according to timing, they assessed the effects of exercise more than two hours before sleep, less than two hours, and about two hours.

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They also took into account participants’ sleep quality, as well as their level of fitness, especially if they were generally sedentary or exercised regularly. Exercise ending two hours before bed has been found to be great for helping people fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly.

In terms of types of activity, cycling was found to be the most beneficial for participants, and that’s probably because it’s aerobic exercise, according to Melodee Mograss, Ph.D., associate of research at the Perform Sleep Lab at Concordia University.

“This type of exercise, like cycling, has been shown to be the most beneficial for sleep,” she said. Ride a bike. “However, it also depends on maintaining a consistent exercise and sleep program, and following good sleep hygiene practices.”

As to why aerobic activity would have the most impact, Mograss added that a theory suggests that this is how exercise increases core body temperature while you are doing it, creating more efficiency with it. temperature regulation since your body will cool down to balance itself. this heat surge. This is the same reason why hot baths before bed are often recommended – they help you cool off faster and prepare you to fall asleep.

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But when you exercise at a high intensity too close to bedtime, your body doesn’t have enough opportunities to relax, Mograss said. This type of disturbance can be particularly difficult for “morning people,” the researchers added, and could lead to daytime sleepiness.

The main takeaway, Mograss said, is to do your vigorous intensity exercise early in the evening – 30- to 60-minute workouts have been especially helpful – and stick to it so that your bike and your sleep schedules are in good shape. consistent.

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