AJHE Table of Contents
Aerobic Walking Exercise and Lifestyle Habits
Interact with Sleep Quality, Stress, and Life
Satisfaction: Results from a Randomized Crossover
Study
Feifei Wang & Szilvia Boros
Epidemiological studies showed that exercise is helpful
in promoting sleep. With the increase of sleep disorders, several research paradigms have been used to
examine the effect of exercise on sleep. Exercise is
widely believed to impact sleep quality due to the traditional hypotheses that sleep promotes energy conservation, thermoregulatory functions, or body restoration. Sleep physiology underlines the mechanism(s) between
sleep and exercise. Exercise intensity may also play
a role in the efficacy of exercise-associated sleep promotion. Furthermore, regular physical activity (PA) is
reported to enhance sleep quality.
Physical exercise has been found to generate intermediate effects between well-being and stress. As suggested, exercise can be beneficial to general well-being and
is necessary to determine appropriate exercise volume
and intensity. Evidence demonstrates that regular exercise can relieve stress because exercise protects against the
negative emotional consequences of stress. Furthermore,
specific types and dosages of exercise are reported to be
associated with mood benefits, self-esteem, and stress
activity. Given this evidence, there is promise related to
using exercise as a stress-management tool.
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