This 10-Minute Daily Habit That Could Help You Sleep Better, According to New Research

With everything you've got going on in life, exercise can sometimes fall down your list behind other, more pressing matters. That's completely understandable from a time-management perspective, but new research suggests trying to squeeze in even short bursts of exercise throughout the day can be linked to healthier sleep.

According to a new observational study published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health, getting at least 10 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise every day could be linked to healthier sleep. "For some outcomes, particularly cardiometabolic health, research suggests that the total amount of activity may be more important than how it is distributed across the week," says Benjamin Baird, PhD, study co-author and research assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at The University of Texas at Austin. "We wondered whether the same would be true for sleep."

If you're currently struggling with getting enough rest or just feel like there's room for improvement, these findings are definitely intriguing. Here's why sleep medicine specialists want you to consider them.

Meet the experts: Christopher Winter, MD, a sleep medicine specialist, neurologist, and author of The Sleep Solution: Why Your Sleep Is Broken and How to Fix It; Benjamin Baird, PhD, study co-author and research assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at The University of Texas at Austin; and Praveen Rudraraju, MD, director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at Northwell’s Phelps Hospital

What did the study find?

For the study, researchers asked 69 college-aged adults to wear a Fitbit to measure their physical activity and sleep during two intervals that spanned eight months. The study participants also took electronic surveys three times a week that ranked their energy levels, stress, feelings of contentment, and sleep quality in the morning.

After analyzing the data, the researchers discovered that participants who got at least 10 minutes a day of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity within a five-day period had a lower rapid eye movement-to-nonrapid eye movement (REM-to-NREM) ratio in the first 180 minutes of sleep. That means they spent a bigger proportion of their sleep in the NREM stages, which include the deepest stage of sleep.

Participants who logged regular exercise also reported feeling more energetic the next day than those who didn't move as regularly.

"Because sleep is organized around a daily circadian cycle, we thought there was a reason to suspect that being active consistently from day to day might matter," Baird says. "That’s essentially what we found: Having more days with at least 10 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was associated with relatively more non-REM sleep during the first few hours of the night, even after accounting for the total amount of activity."

Why might just 10 minutes of movement support deeper sleep?

The study didn't look at why 10 minutes of activity may lead to deeper sleep, but there are a few theories. "Activity creates changes in body temperature, adenosine levels, and other neurotransmitters that result in improvements in sleep," says Christopher Winter, MD, a sleep medicine specialist, neurologist, and author of The Sleep Solution: Why Your Sleep Is Broken and How to Fix It. (Adenosine drives the need for sleep.) "Activity can also serve as a circadian timekeeper as well when people exercise on a schedule and on a daily basis," he adds.

Another leading explanation is likely thermoregulation, says Praveen Rudraraju, MD, director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at Northwell’s Phelps Hospital. "During exercise, core body temperature rises," he explains. "As the body cools during the evening and overnight, changes in temperature regulation correlate with greater slow-wave activity, a hallmark of deeper, more restorative sleep."

Exercise may also increase your "sleep pressure" by helping you burn off more energy, making you more tired when it's time for bed, Dr. Rudraraju says.

But it's important to point out that the findings don't suggest that 10 minutes of movement dramatically change sleep patterns. "Typically, non-REM sleep predominates earlier in the night and REM sleep becomes more prominent later," Baird says. "Our results suggest that regular physical activity may help support that normal pattern."

What kind of exercise counts?

The researchers found that moderate-to-vigorous activity was the most effective—i.e., breathing harder while still being able to talk. "In everyday terms, moderate activity would include things like brisk walking—activity that noticeably increases your heart rate and breathing—while vigorous activity would include things like running or other exercise that makes it substantially harder to carry on a conversation," Baird says.

He also stresses this: "It doesn’t necessarily have to mean a formal workout."

Can this work for everyone?

This study focused on college students, but Baird says it's "plausible" the findings apply to everyone else. "There is a broader literature showing beneficial relationships between physical activity and sleep across adulthood," he says.

Overall, doctors say it's great to incorporate movement into your daily life. The findings "support the idea that there are few things better for sleep than exercise," Dr. Winter says.