Study Settles Debate and Uncovers the Key to Healthier Living—It’s Not Exercise!

Recommendations for a healthier life

When we ask a specialist or simply those around us what we need to implement in our daily lives to have a healthier lifestyle, the answers that emerge most often are quality sleep (minimum eight hours) and physical activity.

However, our day may not allow time and space to apply these two tips. A choice therefore presents itself between sacrificing an hour of sleep to practice sport, or favoring a good restful night to the detriment of exercising.

But which is best for a healthy life? A good sleep or a good workout? A new study published on December 8, 2025 in the journal Communications Medicine
provides some answers.

A study over more than three years

The research team, made up of researchers from Flinders University, located in Adelaide (Australia) and the Interdisciplinary Sleep Center, located in Paris, analyzed data from more than 70,000 participants, collected using two consumer health devices: a sleep sensor to be placed under the mattress and a connected bracelet.

Data was collected over almost three years, between January 2020 and September 2023. Statistical models were used to examine how different aspects of sleep (duration, quality and time to fall asleep) influence the number of steps taken the next day and the following night. They also analyzed these effects according to the age of the participants.

The results showed that only 12.9% of people sleep between 7 and 9 hours per night, as recommended, and take more than 8,000 steps per day, while 16.5% have short sleep (less than 7 hours) and adopt a sedentary lifestyle (less than 5,000 steps daily).

Sleep influences the number of steps… but not the other way around

The researchers also noticed that a good night's sleep (more than 7 hours) tended to promote greater physical activity the next day and maintain a certain consistency, compared to those who slept less.

This study allowed them to show that sleep, and therefore rest, was better than practicing physical activity for people who must reconcile work, family and other obligations if they want to have a healthier and more active life.

“Prioritizing sleep could be the most effective way to boost your energy, motivation and mobility. Our research shows that sleep is not a passive state; it actively contributes to our ability to lead a healthy and active life,” said Professor Danny Eckert, lead author of the study, in comments reported by
IFLScience.

Source: IFLScience