Want Better Sleep Tracking Scores? Just Do This 10-Minute Habit Daily
Smartwatches, fitness trackers, and smartphones keep teaching us new things about our health every day. One area getting extra attention lately is sleep, and for good reason. Sure, there’s plenty of advice out there on how to sleep better, but not all tips are created equal. Now, a fresh study just revealed a simple habit totally in your control that, if done regularly, could seriously boost your sleep quality.
According to a new study from the University of Texas at Austin, regular movement might be your key to better sleep. Just a short daily workout can significantly boost deep sleep, the crucial stage when your brain and body fully recharge. Researchers analyzed data from participants who wore Fitbit devices for months, but here’s the twist: they focused on how often people exercised, not how long. They wanted to see if spreading exercise throughout the week was better than cramming it all into a couple of days.
10 Minutes of Daily Activity Makes a Difference
It turns out frequency matters quite a bit. The study compared two groups: one that spread their movement throughout the week and another that packed it into fewer, high-intensity sessions. The clear winner? The group with consistent daily activity slept more restfully. In fact, regular movement led to a noticeable boost in deep sleep.
Deep sleep is your system’s nightly reset. It restores your body and clears mental clutter. It typically occurs early in the sleep cycle. If you use a smartwatch or fitness tracker, it likely already breaks down your sleep stages, so you can easily check your own deep sleep stats.
But here’s the really good news: researchers found it only takes about 10 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous activity to start seeing benefits in sleep quality.
But What Exactly Counts as Moderate to Vigorous Activity?
According to the study, moderate to vigorous activity means your breathing picks up, but you're still able to chat comfortably. Think of climbing stairs, taking short brisk walks, or even frequently taking standing breaks at work. All these small moves were linked to better sleep quality.
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If paying attention to your breathing feels vague, don't stress. Popular health services already installed on your smartphone—like Apple Health and Google Fit—can give you a clear picture of your activity intensity. These tools use heart rate zones to break down exactly how hard you're working. Apple Health, paired with an Apple Watch, even gives you direct, detailed zone feedback. Google Fit relies on data from external sources like fitness trackers and third-party apps to provide similar insights.
For example, according to Apple, hitting “Zone 3” means you're in the moderate activity sweet spot. The study statistically confirmed that participants regularly engaging in moderate activities throughout the day experienced extended overall deep.
What Does This Mean for You?
The current guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week, yet they don’t specify how this should be spread across the week. Considering this study, daily physical activity seems more beneficial for sleep than packing workouts into weekends alone.
However, it’s important to consider the context: this study primarily included young adults. If, like me, you're already in your 40s, monitoring personal data closely may be necessary to accurately assess how these short, frequent activities impact your sleep. Adopting a holistic, data-driven approach often helps individuals make meaningful lifestyle improvements.
Be mindful, though, as obsessively tracking metrics could inadvertently increase anxiety, potentially negatively affecting sleep quality. This is precisely where the study's simplicity could benefit users searching for actionable insights: incorporating just 10 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity into your daily routine clearly shows positive impacts on restorative sleep.
To get more movement into your day, try taking a 10-minute walk in the morning or evening, stretching between meetings, choosing stairs over elevators, or using a standing desk for part of the afternoon. These small habits can improve your sleep quality.
Are you already seeing this play out in your own life? To be honest, even a 10-minute workout isn't always possible for me. How about you?
