You may not be the kind of person who likes to “morning exercise”, so you’re considering cycling at night instead, but at the same time you may have concerns, will cycling before bed affect your sleep?

Cycling is actually more likely to help you sleep longer and improve sleep quality, according to a new research review in Sleep Medicine Reviews.

Researchers looked at 15 studies to determine the effects of a single vigorous exercise session within a few hours of bedtime in young and middle-aged adults. They split the data by time and assessed the effects of exercising more than two hours before, within two hours and around two hours before bedtime. Overall, vigorous exercise 2-4 hours before bed did not affect nighttime sleep in healthy, young and middle-aged adults. Regular nighttime aerobic exercise does not disrupt nighttime sleep.

They also took into account the quality of the participants’ sleep and their fitness levels — including whether they were often sedentary or exercising regularly. Ending exercise two hours before bedtime has proven to be the best option for helping people fall asleep faster and sleep deeper.

In terms of exercise type, cycling proved to be the most beneficial to participants, likely because it was aerobic, said Dr. Melodee Mograss, an assistant researcher in the Executive Sleep Lab at Concordia University.

She told Bicycling magazine: “It is found that exercise such as cycling is the most beneficial for sleep. Of course, it also depends on whether the individual maintains a consistent exercise and sleep schedule and follows good sleep habits.”

As for why aerobic exercise would have the biggest impact, Mograss adds that there is a theory that exercise raises the body’s core body temperature, increasing the efficiency of thermoregulation, while the body then cools itself down to balance the heat for greater comfort body temperature. It’s the same principle as taking a warm bath before bed to help you cool down faster and get you ready for sleep.