The purposes of this systematic/critical review are: 1) to identify studies on the effects of exercise on chronic insomnia and sleep complaints in middle-aged and older adults and to compare the results of exercise with those obtained with hypnotic medications and 2) to discuss potential mechanisms by which exercise could promote sleep in insomniac patients. We identified studies from 1983 through 2011 using MEDLINE, SCOPUS and Web of Science. For systematic analyses, only studies assessing the chronic effects of exercise on sleep in people with sleep complaints or chronic insomnia were considered. We used the following keywords when searching for articles: insomnia, sleep, sleep complaints, exercise and physical activity. For a critical review, studies were selected on the effects of exercise and possible mechanisms that may explain the effects of exercise on insomnia. We identified five studies that met our inclusion criteria for systematic review. Exercise training is effective at decreasing sleep complaints and insomnia. Aerobic exercise has been more extensively studied, and its effects are similar to those observed after hypnotic medication use. Mechanisms are proposed to explain the effects of exercise on insomnia. There is additional documented evidence on the antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects of exercise. Exercise is effective to decrease sleep complaints and to treat chronic insomnia. Exercise presented similar results when compared with hypnotics; however, prospective studies comparing the effects of exercise with medical and non-medical treatments are warranted before including exercise as a first-line treatment for chronic insomnia are necessary.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 110. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 03 June 2026.
All research outputs
#470,595
of 32,890,663 outputs
Outputs from Clinics
#19
of 1,443 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#1,989
of 207,227 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Clinics
#2
of 27 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 32,890,663 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 98th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,443 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 8.0. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 207,227 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 27 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 92% of its contemporaries.
