National Sleep Week: Sleep + Exercise/Sleep in America

It’s National Sleep Awareness Week!

Sleeping is a luxury to many moms and dads, especially with little kids!

Serta passed along to me the latest and greatest infographic that illustrates (literally) a LOT of interesting facts around sleep and exercise.  It’s always so interesting to me to read these surveys, so I was excited to share!

The 2013 Sleep in America poll released this week by the National Sleep Foundation found that the correlation between exercise and sleep is more prevalent than we may have realized.

Poll results show approximately 1 in 4 Americans report their overall sleep quality as bad but Americans who exercise report the best sleep, and those that exercise vigorously are twice as likely as non-exercisers to report a good night’s sleep every night or almost every night.

·        Non-exercisers tend to be more excessively sleepy than exercisers and have more symptoms of insomnia and sleep apnea which increases risk for heart disease and stroke.
·        Approximately one-half (51%) perceive their sleep quality to improve on days they exercise.

Here are some Tips for sleeping better:

o   Exercise regularly.

o   Keep your bedroom quiet and cool with a comfortable, supportive mattress such as the such as Serta’s Perfect Sleeper, the official mattress of the National Sleep Foundation that addresses the 5 most common sleep issues such include tossing & turning, lack of support (leading to back pain), sleeping too hot or too cold, partner disturbance and mattress roll-off or sag.

o   Practice a relaxing bed time ritual.

o   Remove work materials.