One of man's most prominent dilemmas is the choice between having a couple more hours of sleep or getting up and doing some good for their body with exercise. Of course, with sleeping and exercising both having positive effects, people are generally split down the middle of this particular issue.
With all the research being undertaken, science has unfortunately provided us with no solid answer as of yet, according to MSN Health and Fitness. Since there are only 24 hours in a day, once might think that a couple more hours of rest would be better, but at the same time, spending that same time exercising can and will improve your body's condition.
For now, let us look at the arguments, as well as scientific proof for both having more sleep and having more exercise.
Having more sleep
Christopher Kline, an exercise and sleep researcher at University of Pittsburgh's Physical Activity and Weight Management Research Center, states that research so far has only established a correlation between sleep and exercise. However, the data from the studies does not necessarily state that better sleep equals better exercise the next day. Thus, there is a connection somewhere, but we are still unable to establish anything concrete.
"A couple of studies that have looked at the day-to-day relationships between exercise and sleep in adults have found that better sleep is associated with greater exercise behavior the next day, but in these same studies exercise is rarely associated with better sleep the subsequent night," he said.
Getting more exercise
A 2013 stydy, which involved 2,000 people has found that people who opted to exercise instead of sleep more registered positive health outcomes that are primarily associated with cardiovascular health. Some of the study's population also registered lower insulin levels and better regulation of insulin release.
Another study, published in 2015 and involving 200,000 people, further stated that if a person slept less than seven hours, replacing one hour of walking or exercise with one house of sleep was linked to a seven percent greater mortality risk. The study also concluded that if a person slept more than seven hours, swapping exercise for sleep raised the mortality risk by 18 percent.
Thus, it does seem like getting more exercise edges out getting more sleep to a significant degree. As for Kline, he states that he would choose exercise over sleep, but only if he has already gotten an ample amount of rest for the night. As with most things in the world, the key lies in balance.
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