ArticleAmerican journal of lifestyle medicine
The bidirectional relationship between exercise and sleep: Implications for exercise adherence and sleep improvement.
Article in American journal of lifestyle medicine. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 175 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
175 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 344 citations in OpenAlex.
- Associations between the living environment and sleep through the mediation of the physical activity: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Correlates of Physical Activity in 0- to 5-year-olds: A Systematic Umbrella Review and Consultation of International Researchers.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2023Pooled it
- The Implementation of Behavior Change Techniques in mHealth Apps for Sleep: Systematic Review.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2022Pooled it
- Physical activity and sleep: An updated umbrella review of the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee report.Sleep medicine reviews · 2021Pooled it
- An mHealth-Supported antenatal lifestyle intervention may be associated with improved maternal sleep in pregnancy: Secondary analysis from the PEARS trial.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2022Trial
- Effect of sleep on weight loss and adherence to diet and physical activity recommendations during an 18-month behavioral weight loss intervention.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2022Trial
- Sleep quality and its relationship to mental health, physical health and health behaviours among young adults with serious mental illness enrolled in a lifestyle intervention trial.Early intervention in psychiatry · 2022Trial
- Efficacy of a Multi-component m-Health Weight-loss Intervention in Overweight and Obese Adults: A Randomised Controlled Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Trial
- Is sleep disturbance in patients with chronic pain affected by physical exercise or ACT-based stress management? - A randomized controlled study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2018Trial
- Trial
- Factors Associated With Ambulatory Activity in De Novo Parkinson Disease.Journal of neurologic physical therapy : JNPT · 2017Trial
- Bidirectional associations of accelerometer-determined sedentary behavior and physical activity with reported time in bed: Women's Health Study.Sleep health · 2017Trial
- Balanced: a randomised trial examining the efficacy of two self-monitoring methods for an app-based multi-behaviour intervention to improve physical activity, sitting and sleep in adults.BMC public health · 2016Trial
- Sleep as an Effect Modifier for Physical Activity Intervention Efficacy: Secondary Analysis of Data from Two Randomized Controlled Trials.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2026Article
- Associations of sleep duration, physical activity, and longitudinal changes with the risk of fatal stroke occurrence in middle-aged to older individuals : Physical activity, sleep duration, and risk of fatal stroke.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Relationships Between Physical Activity, Sleep, Psychological Well-Being, and Academic Performance Among Native American College Students.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Review
- Examining the Role of Sleep in Body Weight Regulation and Implications for Obesity Treatment: A Narrative Review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026Review
- Sleep quality, mental health, lifestyle factors, and academic performance among medical students in three Syrian Universities: a cross-sectional study.Discover mental health · 2026Article
- Sleep and Subjective Age: A Narrative Review of Epidemiological Evidence, Underlying Mechanisms, and Population Differences.Nature and science of sleep · 2026Review
115 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Exercise has long been associated with better sleep, and evidence is accumulating on the efficacy of exercise as a nonpharmacologic treatment option for disturbed sleep. Recent research, however, has noted that poor sleep may contribute to low physical activity levels, emphasizing a robust bidirectional relationship between exercise and sleep. This article will briefly review the evidence supporting the use of exercise as a nonpharmacologic treatment for sleep disturbance, outline future research that is needed to establish the viability of exercise as a behavioral sleep treatment, describe recent research that has emphasized the potential influence of poor sleep on daytime activity levels, and discuss whether improving sleep may facilitate adoption and/or better adherence to a physically active lifestyle. With poor sleep and physical inactivity each recognized as key public health priorities, additional research into the bidirectional relationship between exercise and sleep has significant implications for facilitating greater exercise adherence and improving sleep in society.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.