The wisdom of tradition.
Proven by science.

The classical Ayurvedic text Charaka Samhita treats exercise (vyayama) and sleep as forces that pull in opposite directions. In its chapter on sleep, exercise is listed as a remedy for excessive sleep, but it is notably absent from the remedies given for sleeplessness, which instead include massage, bathing, and a comfortable bed. Charaka's dosing rule caps daily exercise at half of one's capacity, stopping at the first signs of sweat or quickened breath, and groups overtraining with sleep loss as a shared category of harm. Sushruta independently repeats the half-capacity rule and forbids exercise right after eating, while permitting daytime rest only for those genuinely exhausted by travel or labor.

What the science saysModern data agrees that exercise is not a direct fix for sleeplessness, but it does support the classical instinct that overdoing it, especially late and intense, disturbs rather than aids sleep.