Common mistake people make that makes exercise less effective and efficient

dailyrecord.co.uk:

People who are in the middle age of their lives are less likely to see the benefit of exercise in life if they are not getting enough sleep.Scientists and researchers from the University College London (UCL) have found that those in their 50s and 60s who regularly exercised but slept less than six hours had a fast decline in certain skills, reports Wales Online.These skills included things like memory loss and concentrating.The team found that after 10 years, the participants' cognitive functions - like their learning, memory and attention skills - were the same as those who participated in less physical activity.In the study, published in journal The Lancet Healthy Longevity, researchers highlighted the need for sleep in order to protect against cognitive decline as people age.Lead author Dr Mikaela Bloomberg, of UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care, said: "Our study suggests that getting sufficient sleep may be required for us to get the full cognitive benefits of physical activity. "It shows how important it is to consider sleep and physical activity together when thinking about cognitive health. "Previous studies examining how sleep and physical activity might combine to affect cognitive function have primarily been cross-sectional – only focusing on a snapshot in time – and we were surprised that regular physical activity may not always be sufficient to counter the long-term effects of lack of sleep on cognitive health." During the research, the team looked at data from the from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (Elsa), that included almost 9,000 people aged 50 and older.Their cognitive function was assessed over a period of 10 years with various memory and verbal fluency tests.Questionnaires were also