BMJ Evid Based Med

Exercise for insomnia: Which activity type has the best evidence?

July 23, 2025

Yoga had the best supporting evidence among studies of various forms of exercise for insomnia, according to this systematic review and meta-analysis. Moderate-certainty evidnece suggests that yoga likely improves sleep time by 111 minutes. Evidence of lower quality suggests there may be benefits for walking and jogging, as well as tai chi.

Study details. This systematic review and network meta-analysis included 22 RCTs (N = 1,348 adults diagnosed with insomnia) examining 13 interventions, including seven exercise-based approaches: yoga, tai chi, walking or jogging, aerobic plus strength exercise, strength training alone, aerobic exercise combined with therapy, and mixed aerobic exercises. Sleep outcomes were assessed using validated tools (e.g., Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI], Insomnia Severity Index [ISI], sleep diaries, polysomnography). Most trials were rated as having some concerns for bias.

Results

• Yoga: Likely increases total sleep time by 111 min, per moderate-certainty evidence; may improve sleep efficiency per low-certainty evidence; may reduce waking after sleep onset (by 56 min) per low-certainty evidence, and may shorten sleep latency (by 29 min) per low-certainty evidnece, all from sleep diaries.
• Walking/jogging: May reduce ISI scores by 9.6 points, per low-certainty evidence.
• Tai chi: May improve PSQI scores by 4.6 points per low-certainty evidence; may increase total sleep time (by 52 min) per low-certainty evidence; may reduce waking after sleep onset (by 36 min) and sleep-onset latency (by 25 minutes), per low-certainty evidence.

Source:

Bu ZJ, et al. (2025, July 15). BMJ Evid Based Med. Effects of various exercise interventions in insomnia patients: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40664502/