If you need another reason to be jealous of those people who are up and at ’em when the rest of us are clawing for the snooze bar, consider the just-published findings of scientists at the University of Pittsburgh.
They say that those early birds who remain active during the day tend to be happier and sharper cognitively in their old age compared to everybody else.
The scientists tracked the activity of more than 1,800 people aged 65 and up and found that those who got moving sooner in the day, and stayed that way, saw greater benefits both physically and mentally as they got older.
Lead author Dr. Stephen Smagula was surprised at how well rising early helped their physical and mental well-being.
“Many older adults had robust patterns: They get up before 7 a.m. on average and they keep going; they stay active for 15 hours or so each day,” Smagula noted, adding many in the study kept the same routines.
“Lo and behold, those same adults were happier, less depressed and had better cognitive function than other participants.”
The others had inconsistent sleeping and waking times, and didn’t follow a steady routine.
And they’re not talking running a marathon: Simply getting up and out, seeing friends and going to a store every day would do the trick.
The researchers say one key improvement you can make is to try to keep the same waking schedule every day, no matter how tired you feel when you start the day.
So skip the snooze bar and go grab some coffee with a friend, sleepyhead.
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