Without sleep, exercise does not bring middle-aged people benefits

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
6 Jul 2023 10:04

A new research found that sleep is crucial for exercise to benefit middle-aged people and help diminish the rate of decline of their cognitive functions.

In this photo made on Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021, Cindy Cicchinelli uses her Peloton exercise machine in the workout room of her Pittsburgh townhouse. (AP)

Researchers from the University College London (UCL) discovered that middle-aged people, whose ages range between 50 and 60, required enough sleep in order to observe exercise benefits that are aimed at hindering the decline in skills such as memory and thinking.

Middle-aged people performing regular physical activity but do not receive at least six hours of sleep per night have witnessed a faster decline in their overall skills.

Moreover, the study conducted by the UCL research team learned that these people also matched, in cognitive functions, those who did less physical activity.

UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care Lead author Dr. Mikaela Bloomberg explained, “Our study suggests that getting sufficient sleep may be required for us to get the full cognitive benefits of physical activity," adding that “It shows how important it is to consider sleep and physical activity together when thinking about cognitive health."

Additionally, Bloomberg highlighted that “Previous studies examining how sleep and physical activity might combine to affect cognitive function have primarily been cross-sectional – only focusing on a snapshot in time – and we were surprised that regular physical activity may not always be sufficient to counter the long-term effects of lack of sleep on cognitive health.”

Want to live longer? Pair weightlifting with aerobics

According to a research paper - the largest of its kind - published last year by the British Journal of Sports Medicine, regular exercising with weights is linked to a lower risk of premature death.

Including both weights and aerobic activities in one's weekly exercise would have a greater beneficial effect, according to researchers. It is recommended that people partake in a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week - or, 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity instead.

"Strengthening activities" are encouraged at least 2 days a week; activities that work out the legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms.

It has not been very clear if working out with weights would lower the risk of premature death, though it's been clear through science that aerobic exercise shares that correlation.

In this current study, researchers that the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Maryland, obtained the data of almost 100,000 adults - average age 71 - who've volunteered for screening.

Participants gave details on their weightlifting activities and any other exercise they participated in.

Around 23% of the participants reported that they do weightlifting, and 16% said they do weightlifting at least 1 to 6 times a week. A third of the participants are "sufficiently active," 24% meet aerobic guidelines, and 8% exceed them.

The researchers followed up with the participants for almost 10 years, among which there were 28,477 deaths.

The findings showed that those who reported weightlifting activities had a lower risk of 9%.

Participants who weight lifted "regularly" had a 14% lower risk of death, whereas those who met aerobic activity levels were at a lower risk of premature death by 32%.

Furthermore, those who met the aerobic activity guidelines as well as weightlifting 1-2 times a week were found to be at 41% to 47% lower risk of premature death.