Both sleep and physical activity are important to health and physical inactivity and a lack of sleep are both associated with a variety of negative health outcomes. What if someone is not sleeping well and also not exercising? A recent study analyzed data from 380,055 participants in the UK Biobank and found synergistic effects between sleep and physical activity. The researchers found that poor sleep increased all-cause mortality, death due to any types of cardiovascular disease, and death due to ischemic stroke during an 11-year follow-up period. Compared to individuals with a high level of physical activity and good sleep, those who did not engage in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and reported poor sleep had highest risks for all-cause mortality, death due to any type of cardiovascular disease, and death due to any type of cancer. The researchers concluded that the impacts of sleep on mortality were exacerbated by low physical activity and that research and clinical practice are needed to target both of them.
Huang, B. H., Duncan, M. J., Cistulli, P. A., Nassar, N., Hamer, M., & Stamatakis, E. (2021). Sleep and physical activity in relation to all-cause, cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality risk. British Journal of Sports Medicine.