Exercising daily could stop you having nightmares, new study suggests trends now
A run a day might help keep the boogeyman away.
According to a new study, exercising daily could reduce the amount of time you spend dreaming each night.
Researchers from the University of Texas found that when people got at least 60 minutes of physical activity during the day, they slept better at night.
Also, exercising reduced the amount of time people spent in the period of sleep in which dreams take place, called rapid eye movement, or (REM) sleep.
This is also the period when most people have nightmares, according to Johns Hopkins.
This is consistent with recommendations doctors already make for reducing nightmares. 'Regular exercise, yoga and meditation may also help reduce stress and improve sleep quality,' and in turn reduce chronic nightmares, according to Stanford sleep scientists.
Nightmares most often occur during the REM stage of sleep
The study was published in early March in the journal of Scientific Reports by psychologists from The University of Texas.
The type of physical activity ranged from intense workouts like running and cycling to low-intensity workouts like walking or doing chores.
Any activities that raised participants' heart rates counted towards daily exercise goals.
Previous studies have shown that exercising can lead to improvements in sleep quality and reduce the amount of time spent in REM sleep.
The scientists asked the 82 participants to wear Fitbits in order to capture details about sleep quality and exercise duration over a six month period.
Using data about heart rate and bodily movement, they determined when the participants were cycling through different stages of sleep each night and how much exercise they were getting each day.
Each stage of sleep is characterized by physiological changes in heart rate and brain waves. Here, the researchers tracked the
