Brainsleep Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Kosuke Michibata, hereinafter referred to as "Brainsleep") and ASICS Corporation (Headquarters: Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, CEO: Yasuto Hirota, hereinafter referred to as "ASICS") jointly conducted a clinical trial to verify the effect of exercise in a low-oxygen environment on sleep quality. The experimental design was supervised by Brainsleep and the ASICS Institute of Sports Science, and the trial was conducted over a period of four weeks on 19 subjects at ASICS Sports Complex TOKYO BAY (operated by ASICS Sports Complex Corporation), an urban low-oxygen environment training facility operated by ASICS. During the first week, participants were not exercising during the day and their sleep status was measured, including total sleep time (time spent asleep), sleep latency (time it took to fall asleep after going to bed), and number of awakenings during the night (number of times they woke up during the night). In the second week, the subjects were divided into two groups of 10 and 9, and one group was placed in a normal oxygen environment, while the other was placed in a hypoxic environment, engaging in light exercise (20-30 minutes on a cycling machine) three days a week, while their sleep patterns were measured. The third week was a washout period in which no exercise was performed, and in the final week, the participants were asked to perform the same exercise in a different environment and their sleep patterns were measured. The results of the clinical trial showed that there was no significant difference in total sleep time or total time in bed (time spent in bed) between those who exercised during the day. However, sleep latency, which indicates how quickly one falls asleep, was significantly shortened, and both the time spent waking up during the night and the number of times one wakes up during the night, which are obstacles to deep sleep, were significantly reduced, and sleep efficiency (the percentage of time spent asleep out of the time spent in bed) was improved. These results show that exercise improves the quality of sleep. Furthermore, when exercising during the day in a low-oxygen environment, indices of sleep quality such as sleep efficiency, time awake during sleep, and number of awakenings during sleep tended to be higher than in a normal oxygen environment. In particular, while there was no significant difference in the number of awakenings during sleep between no exercise and exercise in a normal oxygen environment, there was a significant difference when comparing no exercise with exercise in a low-oxygen environment. In other words, it can be inferred that people are able to get deeper sleep when exercising in a low-oxygen environment. It is known that sleep quality deteriorates when exposed to low oxygen levels, such as at high altitudes, leading to respiratory disorders during sleep. In this case, it is possible that exercising during the day in low oxygen conditions led to acclimatization to the low oxygen levels, improving the quality of sleep at night in normal oxygen conditions. The results of this study confirmed that mild exercise improves sleep quality. It also suggests that the low oxygen environment itself may affect sleep quality. Going forward, the two companies plan to continue researching the effects of a low-oxygen environment on sleep, with the aim of elucidating the mechanisms behind the results obtained this time. <Experiment Schedule> <The effects of exercise and exercise in normoxic/hypoxic environments on sleep quality> <Sleep-related terminology> ■About ASICS Sports Complex TOKYO BAY (Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo) This urban low-oxygen environment training facility opened in Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo in November 2019. It has two pools, a 25m and a 50m pool, a training room equipped with various training machines, and a studio offering programs such as yoga and pilates, allowing a variety of training to be carried out in a low-oxygen environment. In addition, the facility supports effective low-oxygen environment training by providing a training menu based on a unique optimum value (guideline) for exercise intensity based on joint research with the Ritsumeikan University Corporation. Facility name: ASICS Sports Complex TOKYO BAY Address: 2nd and 3rd floors, D Tower Toyosu, 6-4-20 Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo Phone number: 03-5547-4558 Opening hours: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 7:00-22:00 (last entry 21:15), Saturday, Sunday, holidays: 8:00-18:00 (last entry 17:15) *Due to the state of emergency declaration, our weekday business hours have now been changed to close at 8:00 p.m. (scheduled to last until March 7th). Usage fee Regular membership: 22,000 yen (tax included) per month *A separate registration fee of 33,000 yen (tax included) is required Facility area: Approximately 5,000 square meters (approximately 1,500 tsubo) Closed: Tuesdays ASICS Sports Complex official website https://sports-complex.asics.com/ About the Hypoxia x Sleep Research Online Talk Event On Wednesday, March 10th, an online talk event will be held to report the results of this research and explore new possibilities regarding the relationship between low-oxygen training and sleep, as well as the various effects that can be expected by incorporating low-oxygen training. Event name: Does training affect your quality of sleep? Date and time: Wednesday, March 10th, 18:00-19:00 speaker: Professor Seiji Nishino (Founder of Brain Sleep Co., Ltd. / Professor of Psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine / Director of the Stanford University Sleep Biorhythm Research Institute) Professor Kazunari Goto (Ritsumeikan University, College of Sport and Health Sciences) Etsuko Kanegae (CEO of Radiance Co., Ltd. / Miss International Japan 2010, 4th place in the world competition) Capacity: First 300 people (advance registration required) Participation fee: Free Location: Online (Zoom webinar) For details about the event and to apply, please see the website below. https://sports-complex.asics.com/news/2021/0301-1.html
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