- A new study published in Current Biology suggests that while we’re getting more sleep in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s not necessarily better.
- Getting daily exercise—especially outdoors—can help improve your sleep quality.
Without commuting to work, getting the kids to school, and early morning group runs, many people under various levels of states slowly reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic have used that flexibility to catch up on sleep. But a new study published in Current Biology delivers some less-than-stellar news: Just because you’re getting extra ZZZs doesn’t always means you’re logging better sleep.
To understand the effects of pandemic-related restrictions on sleep rhythms and behaviors, Swiss researchers recruited 435 people who recorded their sleep duration and perceptions of sleep quality via an online survey for a six-week study. About 85 percent of those people were working from home during the time.
Three-quarters of participants reported sleeping up to 50 minutes longer than they did before the coronavirus pandemic. Researchers suggested this was likely a result of less time spent commuting, but also an effect of what they called “social jetlag.” That means people were better able to set their sleep schedules according to internal biological signals rather than external cues, like going to bed later after socializing in the evenings.
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Participants also reported on quality measures like problems falling asleep, waking up during the night and not being able to get back to sleep, disturbance by noise, feeling refreshed in the morning, daytime fatigue, and overall satisfaction with sleep.
Unfortunately, more sleep didn’t come with a surge in solid sleep, according to lead study author Christine Blume, Ph.D., a sleep scientist at the Center for Chronobiology in Basel, Switzerland. She told Bicycling that sleep quality actually slightly decreased, and for some participants, they were sleeping less than before the lockdowns.
“This is not surprising, given that we’re in an unprecedented situation, which is associated with a considerable increase in self-perceived burdens,” she said. “In general, too, sleep quality does not equal sleep duration, although duration is an aspect of it.”
What helps boost that quality? Exercise, especially outdoors—Blume says physical activity has been extensively linked with improved sleep, and pairing that with natural daylight can be another boost since it may help regulate sleep-wake hormones like melatonin and cortisol.
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Even when people in the study spent the majority—if not all—of their time indoors during the six-week timeframe, exercising proved to be beneficial when it came to sleep quality. Blume suggested part of the reason is that it can help those self-perceived burdens feel a little lighter.
“Exercising may be one way to cope with the stress of this whole situation,” she said. “It can be a way to turn more sleep into quality sleep.”
So while your group runs may be out for now, heading out for some solo miles or even going down to your basement gym for a strength session might be the key to successfully falling—and staying—asleep.
Elizabeth Millard is a freelance writer focusing on health, wellness, fitness, and food.
