The Proven Path to Better Sleep After 60
Are you among the many seniors struggling with quality sleep?
Up to 50 percent of adults over 60 experience sleep difficulties—insomnia being particularly common.
If any of this sounds familiar, you know how miserable sleep problems make you feel.
After tossing and turning all night, you stumble through your day in a daze.
It’s bad enough when it happens occasionally. But for a shocking number of older adults, it’s a new normal.
But it doesn’t have to be.
Scientists have identified an activity that significantly improves the quality of your sleep.
Poor sleep isn’t just about feeling tired the next day.
For seniors, insomnia can significantly impact overall health, increasing risks for serious conditions—including heart disease, depression, cognitive decline, and falls.
In a comprehensive review, researchers analyzed data from 24 previous studies involving more than 2,000 people aged 60 and older diagnosed with insomnia.
Using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, they determined the quality of their sleep. Then, they compared five different types of exercises to the participants’ sleep scores.
The surprising winner was strength and resistance training.
- Combined exercise program like yoga or Pilates improved their scores by 35 points.
- Aerobic exercise improved their scores by 36 points.
- Strength or resistance training improved their sleep scores by 75 points.
I get it.
The last thing you feel like doing when you’re exhausted and sleep-deprived is to muster up the energy to exercise.
Just start slowly and then gradually increase your time or intensity.
Here’s what the research participants typically did:
- Exercised 2-3 times per week
- Maintained mild to moderate intensity
- Completed sessions of about 50 minutes
- Continued the program for about 14 weeks
Strength training doesn’t necessarily mean lifting heavy weights at the gym. Exercises can include bodyweight movements like wall push-ups, resistance band work, or using light dumbbells or household items as weights.
But don’t stop with exercise. The BEST change you can make to improve the quality of your sleep is to spend time outside at sunrise, which sets your circadian rhythm.
When you combine these lifestyle factors, you’ll be sleeping like a baby in no time.
P.S. Still can’t sleep? Try these insomnia BUSTING tips.
View Sources
Pakwan Bahalayothin, Kittiphon Nagaviroj, Thunyarat Anothaisintawee – Impact of different types of physical exercise on sleep quality in older population with insomnia: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials: Family Medicine and Community Health 2025;13:e003056.
