Evidence library · Sleep

Does general physical activity affect sleep in menopause? What 16 studies found

Studies of general physical activity in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women that measured sleep. 13 reported an improvement and 0 found no difference against the comparison group.

  1. A meta-analysis of 11 trials found low to moderate intensity programmed exercise for 12 weeks to a year reduced depressive symptoms in midlife and older women, with less insomnia reported secondarily.

    Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 1,943 participants pooled · 2017Midlife womenCited 52 timesPubMed

  2. A meta-analysis of 16 trials in 2108 perimenopausal and postmenopausal women found physical exercise improved sleep quality on both subjective and objective measures.

    Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 2,108 participants pooled · 2022Midlife womenCited 19 timesPubMed

  3. A meta-analysis of nine trials with 1579 women with hot flushes found physical activity did not significantly improve sleep quality or insomnia but produced minor improvement in sleep problems.

    Mixed resultsMeta-analysis · 1,579 participants pooled · 2025Midlife womenCited 4 timesPubMed

  4. A meta-analysis of 22 trials in women with natural menopause found exercise reduced insomnia severity scores, though cognitive behavioral therapy and acupuncture showed larger reductions.

    Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 1,648 participants pooled · 2026Midlife womenPubMed

  5. A review of 31 studies found yoga, walking, exercise, and stretching improved sleep quality in menopausal women, with inconsistent effects on depression.

    Reported an improvementSystematic review · 2023Midlife womenCited 17 timesPubMed

  6. A review of 12 studies found mobile apps and wearables increased physical activity by about 61 weekly minutes in midlife menopausal women and improved weight, anxiety, sleep and quality of life.

    Reported an improvementSystematic review · 2022Midlife womenCited 14 timesPubMed

  7. Sedentary overweight postmenopausal women did a year-long moderate-intensity physical activity program versus stretching, with limited evidence that sleep changes affected exercise-related weight, ghrelin or leptin changes.

    Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 173 women · 52 weeks · 2007PostmenopausalCited 59 timesPubMed

  8. In 120 perimenopausal women, 8 weeks of yoga reduced hot flushes, night sweats and sleep disturbance and improved memory and attention test scores more than supervised physical exercise.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 120 women · 8 weeks · 2008PerimenopausalCited 54 timesPubMed

  9. Inactive postmenopausal breast cancer survivors used a wearable activity tracker with coaching for 12 weeks; the primary intervention group showed greater improvements in sleep disturbances measured by actigraphy than a waitlist group.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 83 women · 24 weeks · 2021PostmenopausalCited 30 timesPubMed

  10. In a pilot trial of 26 Asian American midlife women, a web-based physical activity program was linked to fewer sleep-related symptoms and increased activity after one and three months.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 26 women · 12 weeks · 2019Midlife womenCited 7 timesPubMed

  11. In 140 Iranian women, an educational program promoting physical activity based on a behavior change model reduced sleep problems, depression, irritability and anxiety two months later.

    Reported an improvementControlled trial · 140 women · 8 weeks · 2022PostmenopausalCited 6 timesPubMed

  12. Among 305 Turkish women aged 45 to 60, physically active women reported lower total menopausal symptom scores, including sleep, sexual, joint and psychological symptoms, than less active women.

    Reported an improvementCross-sectional study · 305 women · 2014Midlife womenCited 22 timesPubMed

  13. In 721 women aged 45 to 55, higher physical activity was associated with lower dyslipidaemia risk, but activity did not fully offset the higher risk linked to sleep problems.

    Direction not statedCross-sectional study · 721 women · 2022Midlife womenCited 3 timesPubMed

  14. In interviews after a 6 month physical activity trial, menopausal women reported improved hot flushes, night sweats, sleep and psychological wellbeing from being physically active.

    Reported an improvementOther · 17 women · 26 weeks · 2020Midlife womenCited 22 timesPubMed

  15. A narrative review of psychological and mind-body approaches, including yoga, found empirical support for improving quality of life and symptoms like hot flushes and sleep during menopause.

    Reported an improvementOther · 2024Midlife womenCited 3 timesPubMed

  16. A review described how regular physical activity including aerobic exercise, resistance training and yoga in midlife women supports cognition, sleep, mood and reduces chronic disease risk.

    Reported an improvementOther · 2025Midlife womenCited 1 timesPubMed

How to read this. Each line is one study, summarised in plain language from its PubMed abstract, with the authors' own sentence underneath on the study page. A count of studies is not a verdict: trials differ in size, length and quality, and a result in one group of women may not hold in another. Nothing here is medical advice.

Summaries are generated, then checked by machine against the abstract they came from; any summary that could not be matched word for word was left out. Our clinical lead is reviewing the summaries topic by topic, and this note will change when that is done. Corpus last refreshed 2026-11-03. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix the summary or remove the study.

Other exercise types and sleep