Benefits of going to bed early

Sleep tracking feature on smartwatches. Photo: Digital Trends .

New research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States ( PNAS ) shows that going to bed early offers many benefits, including optimizing physical performance the following day.

According to Inc. , researchers analyzed the sleep and exercise habits of 19,963 adults. Data was collected through a wearable biomedical device (WHOOP) on the wrist, totaling 5,995,080 nights, to understand the impact of early sleep on other habits.

The study results showed that people who went to bed earlier were more likely to participate in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity the following day for longer periods.

Specifically, adults who regularly go to bed before 9 PM are about 30 minutes more capable of physical activity than those who go to bed at 1 AM.

Even when compared to those who typically go to bed at 11 PM (the average bedtime of the entire study sample), those who went to bed at 9 PM still engaged in about 15 minutes more physical activity. The results were compared based on individuals of the same age.

Dr. Josh Leota from the School of Psychology at Monash University (Australia), the lead author of the study, said the results show that people who go to bed late may be at a disadvantage with their schedules the next day.

“Working hours from 9 am to 5 pm can conflict with the natural sleep preferences of night shift workers, leading to social jet lag, poor sleep quality, and increased daytime sleepiness. All of this can result in reduced motivation and physical activity the following day,” says Dr. Leota.

The positive impact of going to bed early has been mentioned by many experts, but this is reliable data showing that exercise trends may also be influenced by bedtime.

According to Dr. Leota, the results of the study also have implications for public health.

"Instead of simply promoting independent early bedtime and physical activity, health campaigns could encourage people to go to bed earlier to naturally foster an active lifestyle."

“A holistic approach that recognizes the interaction between these two essential behaviors can lead to better health for individuals and communities,” Dr. Leota emphasized.

The study also examined the proactive changes in sleep habits. Specifically, when people went to bed earlier than usual but still got enough sleep, they were able to perform at their highest level of physical activity the following day.

According to Eurekalert , an additional study with nearly 6,000 participants in the All of Us Research Program showed similar results.

The study's lead author, Dr. Elise Facer-Childs from Monash University, highlighted the results showing a strong correlation between sleep duration and levels of physical activity.

"Sleep and physical activity are both crucial for health. Until now, most of us haven't fully understood the close connection between them in our daily lives."

"Our research findings are consistent across a wide range of populations, showing that if you can go to bed earlier than usual while maintaining the same sleep duration, you can boost your physical activity the following day," shared Dr. Facer-Childs.