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Dose-response relationship between evening exercise and sleep
Josh Leota, David M. Presby, Flora Le, Mark É. Czeisler, Luis Mascaro, Emily R. Capodilupo, Joshua F. Wiley, Sean P. A. Drummond et al.. Nature Communications, 2025-04-15
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Public health guidelines recommend exercise as a key lifestyle intervention for promoting and maintaining healthy sleep function and reducing disease risk. However, strenuous evening exercise may disrupt sleep due to heightened sympathetic arousal. This study examines the association between strenuous evening exercise and objective sleep, using data from 14,689 physically active individuals who wore a biometric device during a one-year study interval (4,084,354 person-nights). Here we show later exercise timing and higher exercise strain are associated with delayed sleep onset, shorter sleep duration, lower sleep quality, higher nocturnal resting heart rate, and lower nocturnal heart rate variability. Regardless of strain, exercise bouts ending ≥4 hours before sleep onset are not associated with changes in sleep. Our results suggest evening exercise—particularly involving high exercise strain—may disrupt subsequent sleep and nocturnal autonomic function. Individuals aiming to improve sleep health may benefit from concluding exercise at least 4 hours before sleep onset or electing lighter strain exercises within this window. Exercise is essential for health, but strenuous evening exercise may disrupt sleep. Here, using 4-million nights of objective data, the authors show strenuous exercise ending within 4 hours of bedtime is associated with disruptions to subsequent sleep and nocturnal autonomic function.
Key findings
- Here we show later exercise timing and higher exercise strain are associated with delayed sleep onset, shorter sleep duration, lower sleep quality, higher nocturnal resting heart rate, and lower nocturnal heart rate variability.
- Regardless of strain, exercise bouts ending ≥4 hours before sleep onset are not associated with changes in sleep.
- Our results suggest evening exercise—particularly involving high exercise strain—may disrupt subsequent sleep and nocturnal autonomic function.
- Individuals aiming to improve sleep health may benefit from concluding exercise at least 4 hours before sleep onset or electing lighter strain exercises within this window.
- Here, using 4-million nights of objective data, the authors show strenuous exercise ending within 4 hours of bedtime is associated with disruptions to subsequent sleep and nocturnal autonomic function.
Why it matters
This study is about evening exercise and sleep, not Alzheimer's disease, and reports no findings on dementia. It found that strenuous exercise ending within four hours of bedtime was linked to delayed sleep onset, shorter sleep duration, and lower sleep quality, while exercise ending at least four hours before sleep was not.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 54/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Nature Communications) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Nature Communications: journal h-index 747 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 4 / 7 | Cited 56 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 18.7 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 6 / 6 | Cited 59.4× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 56 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 1 / 4 | Last-listed author Elise R. Facer‐Childs: h-index 19 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 3 / 3 | Harvard University: institution h-index 3,235 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 4 institution(s) in 3 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40234380) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 54 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58271-x
- PubMed: 40234380
- Original source →
- Free full text: Nature Communications →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Leota, J., Presby, D. M., Le, F., Czeisler, M. É., Mascaro, L., Capodilupo, E. R., et al. (2025). Dose-response relationship between evening exercise and sleep. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58271-x
Vancouver
Leota J, Presby DM, Le F, Czeisler MÉ, Mascaro L, Capodilupo ER, et al. Dose-response relationship between evening exercise and sleep. Nature Communications. 2025. doi:10.1038/s41467-025-58271-x. PMID: 40234380.
BibTeX
@article{leota2025-40234380,
author = {Leota, Josh and Presby, David M. and Le, Flora and Czeisler, Mark É. and Mascaro, Luis and Capodilupo, Emily R. and Wiley, Joshua F. and Drummond, Sean P. A. and others},
title = {{Dose-response relationship between evening exercise and sleep}},
journal = {Nature Communications},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-58271-x},
pmid = {40234380},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58271-x}
}