Regular Exercise & Teen Sleep

A new study suggests that regular exercise can lead to multiple improvements in the sleep of teens.

The study involved 12 teen athletes who got about 14 hours of vigorous exercise per week. They were compared with 12 controls who exercised for only 1.5 hours per week. Their sleep was evaluated following a day without exercise.

Results show that the athletes took less time to fall asleep. They also woke up fewer times during the night.

Overall their sleep was more efficient; a higher percentage of their time in bed was spent sleeping. The athletes also spent more time in the stage of deep, slow-wave sleep.

Their also was less variation between the weeknight and weekend sleep of teen athletes. Often teens sleep longer on weekends to make up for sleep loss during the week.

Sleeping better at night also had a daytime effect; the athletes reported better daily performance.

Is your teen getting enough sleep? Check out the signs your teen needs sleep on SleepEducation.com.

Image by Alpharetta CVB