How the way you WALK can tell you how well you’ll sleep tonight, according to new research

A little pep in your step may be a sign that you will sleep better at night, according to research from George Mason University.

By strapping motion sensors to a group of young adults, the researchers discovered that people who moved their hips more while walking, leaned more and had irregularly timed steps, similar to a drunk, were more likely to sleep poorly.

These measurements also indicate that hikers were more likely to be injured.

The researchers identified this by using motion sensor technology and AI to determine the difference between the two groups.

But you can probably see these differences in real life, Joel Martin, a kinesiologist at George Mason University who led the study, told TheWSTNews.com.

“Most people probably do this sleep-negative walk on a daily basis without really thinking about it,” he said.

When someone is sleep deprived, for example, they tend to take a more ‘drunk’ walk.

The relationship between walking styles and sleep quality has been established in older people by several previous studies.

A survey from 2016 from the University of Haifa in Israel showed that elderly people who get poor sleep tend to walk more slowly, with more asymmetric patterns – and as a result are more likely to suffer falls.

A 2020 study from psychologists at Louisiana State University found that older people who got poorer sleep had irregular walking patterns.

But this is one of a kind few surveys looking at this link in young adults. A previous study from psychologists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences found a similar but more dramatic link between students’ walking styles and sleep quality, Martin said.

In Mr Martin’s study, ‘there were really subtle changes’ between the two groups that could probably only be seen with computer analysis.

The new study has identified nuanced differences in gait patterns that are associated with sleep quality, but can only be seen with a computer program.

The study, which surveyed 123 people aged 24 on average, found that 59 percent were good sleepers, while 41 were poor sleepers.

After studying the participants’ sleeping habits, the researchers sent them on a two-minute walk around an oval track with motion sensors attached to their bodies.

They fed the gait data through an AI learning algorithm trained to identify 100 different gait characteristics such as hip and spine position and the width between the feet.

The AI ​​detected a difference in walking patterns from the moment the participants took their first step.

Poor sleepers had less rotation of the lower spine, which Martin said looks like a turn off. Also, when walking in the curve on the track, the poor sleepers tended to have more changes in pelvic tilt, meaning their hips moved more.

Finally, poor sleepers had trouble maintaining a consistent walking speed, and the distance between their feet changed frequently.

These results also suggest that people with poorer sleep are at greater risk of getting hurts when walkingsaid Mr. Martin.

To determine gait changes between the two groups, the researchers sent the participants on a walk around an oval track

‘Poor sleepers can show very subtle changes in gait, usually associated with difficulty initiating and maintaining walking speed. In particular, these gait patterns resemble individuals who have a higher risk of lower extremity injuries or walk more slowly,’ the researchers wrote in the paper published in journal Sleep Science.

Martin said this study would have been more accurate if they had been able to keep the participants overnight.

But that comes with ethical questions, as depriving people of sleep is dangerous, so scientists are sticking to more observational methods like this, he said.

These studies could help develop technology that can ‘identify whether someone is tired or not, particularly in some professions or sports where people may be at higher risk of injury if they are in some sort of sleep-deprived or fatigued state.’