Exercise Or A Good Night's Sleep? Scientists Say This Is What You Should Prioritize "To Live A Healthy, Active Life"

In an ideal world, we’d all be sleeping by 10pm, snoozing uninterrupted until 6am, and basking in that post-exercise glow long before responsibility comes knocking. Thing is, life is rarely so predictable.

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Work, childcare, illness, and – oh, I don’t know – the urge to claw back Me Time and enjoy doing nothing – it all adds up. We may all have the same 24 hours but our freedom to spend them doing what we please varies wildly. So, if we have to choose between those mythical 8 hours of sleep and getting in a workout, which one is actually more likely to contribute to a healthier lifestyle?

As luck would have it, a recent study decided to dive into just that. It analyzed over 28 million days' worth of data from more than 70,000 participants and found that less than 13 percent were not hitting their recommended sleep and exercise targets.

What was intriguing was how falling short on one metric impacted the other. If people got their steps in (over 7,000 in a day), that wasn’t a particularly good indicator for a good night’s rest, but if people got sufficient sleep (over 7 hours), that tended to lead to more physical activity the following day.

“We found that getting a good night’s sleep – especially high-quality sleep – sets you up for a more active day,” says Josh Fitton, a PhD candidate at FHMRI Sleep Health, in a statement. “People who slept well tended to move more the following day, but doing extra steps didn’t really improve sleep that night. This highlights the importance of sleep if we want to boost physical activity.”

The association of good sleep with more movement was more about quality than quantity, however. While around six to seven hours of sleep was associated with the highest step counts the following day, the best consistency with exercise was seen among those who were sleeping more efficiently (AKA. less tossing and turning).

“Our findings call into question the real-world compatibility of prominent health recommendations and highlight how difficult it is for most people to have an active lifestyle and sleep well at the same time,” continued Fitton. “Only a tiny fraction of people can achieve both recommended sleep and activity levels every day so we really need to think about how these guidelines work together and what we can do to support people to meet them in ways that fit real life.”

It can be tempting, especially as the new year looms, to throw yourself into a 5am routine no matter what time you got to sleep the night before, but the authors say their research suggests that a good rest is best if you want to get back into a more positive routine.

“Prioritising sleep could be the most effective way to boost your energy, motivation and capacity for movement,” added Professor Danny Eckert, senior author on the new paper. “Simple changes like reducing screen time before bed, keeping a consistent bedtime, and creating a calm sleep environment can make a big difference. Our research shows that sleep is not just a passive state; it’s an active contributor to your ability to live a healthy, active life.”

The study is published in the journal Communications Medicine.