For all you sleep deprived folks/Hit that treadmill for 4 months

[compsports]

For all you sleep deprived folks who wonder why your 45 minute run on the treadmill didn't help you sleep?  Sorry, you gotta do it for 4 months.  So if you only slept two hour the previous night, drag your body back on the machine and do it again.  Keep repeating the cycle and you too can get your beauty rest.

 

http://www.counselheal.com/articles/6385/20130815/insomniacs-reap-sleep-benefits-four-months-exercise.htm

 

Sheesh, do these people really think about what they are advising?  I think before they give this type of advice, they should be required to undergo sleep deprivation and then try exercising on a regular basis for 4 months.

 

By the way, I have my serious doubts this is the answer to insomnia. Even when I worked a temp job last year and walked quite a bit, it never helped me stay asleep on the pap machine. 

 

Yes, that is a different ballgame but Gayle Greene, the author of Insomniac, said she even though she swam on a regular basis, that never helped her condition. I just despise the way that simplistic solutions are claimed to be the ultimate solution.

 

Rant over.

 

CS

 

PS - I just read the study and the number of participants was 11. It also doesn't seem to be stating what the article claims.  Can someone please read this to give their impression?

 

http://www.aasmnet.org/JCSM/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=29078

[Altostrata]

Strenuous exercise for people with withdrawal syndrome sometimes backfires because it causes the release of cortisol, the activating hormone -- and that can keep hypersensitive nervous systems awake.

 

Gentle walking every day is much better. Walking does not release cortisol, and getting natural light helps restore the sleep cycle.

 

(Also dim or turn down lights after sundown!)

[basildev]

 

For all you sleep deprived folks who wonder why your 45 minute run on the treadmill didn't help you sleep?  Sorry, you gotta do it for 4 months.

 

Meh.

 

That's like telling someone who suffers chronic constipation to 'just eat more fibre'.

 

Maddening.

[compsports]

 

 

For all you sleep deprived folks who wonder why your 45 minute run on the treadmill didn't help you sleep?  Sorry, you gotta do it for 4 months.

 

Meh.

 

That's like telling someone who suffers chronic constipation to 'just eat more fibre'.

 

Maddening.

Exactly Basildev!

 

It seems like mainstream medical advice is becoming stupidier each year. What a choice between that and meds that don't work.

 

CS

[EagleWolf]

The article goes beyond the absurd into pure lunacy.  Exercising at full steam ahead while in withdrawal makes about as much sense as flying a red flag from your butt while running with the bulls.  Hard core exercise releases loads of cortisol, which is not what you want when you already have an over excited CNS. 

 

Moderate exercise or better still walking 30 minutes a day in a natural environment, with lots of trees, leaves, flora and fauna is much healthier option. 

 

There is a scientific study somewhere on PubMed to validate the benefits of 'walking in nature'.

 

Because of my severe weight gain, I've gone down the road of a brutal exercise regime previously,  which resulted in nothing more than extreme fatigue with lessening amounts of sleep each night.  When I backed off the intense exercise, sleep resumed its normal 3-4 hour pattern, which is not nearly enough, but considering I am tapering quickly, I'll take anything I can get.

 

Cheers,

 

Eagle.

[compsports]

Hi Eagle,

 

In all fairness, the article was addressing the average person who has difficulty with insomnia. But obviously, if the advice is absurd for that type of person, it is going to be worse for someone in withdrwal. Calling it pure lunacy is quite fitting.

 

By the way, the various responses on this thread seem to explain why doing around 3 miles on the treadmill in the evening never resulted in improved sleep on the pap machine. Unfortunately, even gentle walking earlier in the day causes me to tired out and fall asleep prematurely which I am trying to avoid doing.

 

Anyway, as I mentioned previously, I am just tired of the one size fits all insomnia advice that healthcare professional keep pushing which mainstream media eats up big time. But I guess it is too boring to say that insomnia is a complex situation that needs to be evaluated on an individual basis by your health care professional.

 

CS