Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsBenefitsStepsBest Time to WalkTips for Better Sleep

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Benefits

Steps

Best Time to Walk

Tips for Better Sleep

Lace up your shoes if you struggle to sleep at night—walking can help improve your sleep.

Recent studies have examined the impact of walking on sleep and found that walking more can improve sleep quality and duration for people of any age.It is an easy and accessible form of exercise, meaning you’re more likely to adopt it into your routine regardless of your current fitness level.

How Walking Benefits Sleep

In one study of 490 adults, participants participated in a four-week walking program. Participants committed to walking 10,000 steps every day. Researchers found that this intervention improved sleep quality for all participants.

Those participants with no previous history of exercise before the study had additional benefits, including improved sleep latency (the time it takes to fall asleep) and sleep duration.

Theories about why walking can improve sleep include that walking can cause changes in temperature and heart rate, improve mood, and release chemicals likegrowth hormoneand brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), all of which benefit sleep.

Somebenefits of walkingthat can help you sleep better include:

How Much Do You Have to Walk?

There is no exact prescription for how much you must walk to improve your sleep. However, researchers have found that increasing your daily step count may benefit your sleep quality, particularly for women.

A daily goal of10,000 stepsis a standard recommendation, but you don’t necessarily have to walk that far to get health benefits like improved sleep. One study found that those who walk 8,000 steps per day have a 50% reduced chance of death from all causes compared to people who walk only 4,000 steps daily, which improved to 65% for people who walk 12,000 steps daily.

In addition to increasing your overall activity, you may also find that you sleep better on individual days when you walk more than usual. Research shows that when participants took more steps than their normal daily average, they slept longer and reported better sleep quality.

What Is the Best Time to Walk for Better Sleep?

There’s no single “right time” to go for a walk if your goal is better sleep. Simply try to walk more throughout the day at a time that’s best for you.

It’s important to listen to your body and adjust exercise timing to optimize sleep quality.

Other Tips for Quality Sleep

If you want to improve your sleep, it’s helpful to learn aboutsleep hygiene—changes you can make to your environment or behavior to sleep better and longer.

Tips for improving your sleep quality include:

Summary

Walking is a free, easy, and accessible way to increase your physical activity. Physical activity overall is associated with improved sleep, and multiple studies have found that walking, in particular, can help improve sleep quality.

If you want to walk for better sleep, try adding 2,000 steps to your average daily step count each week for four weeks. Keep a log of your sleep to help monitor any improvements.

10 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Wang F, Boros S.The effect of daily walking exercise on sleep quality in healthy young adults.Sport Sci Health. 2021;17(2):393-401. doi:10.1007/s11332-020-00702-x

Bisson ANS, Robinson SA, Lachman ME.Walk to a better night of sleep: testing the relationship between physical activity and sleep.Sleep health. 2019;5(5):487. doi:10.1016/j.sleh.2019.06.003

Harvard Health Publishing.Exercising to relax.

Saint-Maurice PF, Troiano RP, Bassett DR, et al.Association of daily step count and step intensity with mortality among us adults.JAMA. 2020;323(12):1151-1160. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.1382

Buman MP, Phillips BA, Youngstedt SD, Kline CE, Hirshkowitz M.Does nighttime exercise really disturb sleep? Results from the 2013 National Sleep Foundation Sleep in America Poll.Sleep Med. 2014;15(7):755-761. doi:10.1016/j.sleh.2019.06.003

Johns Hopkins Medicine.Exercising for better sleep.

Sleep Foundation.How can exercise affect sleep.

Sleep Foundation.Mastering sleep hygiene: your path to quality sleep.

Harvard Health Publishing.Does exercising at night affect sleep?

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