Beat Insomnia With a Workout: This Week on AOL Health

Instead of drinking warm milk or counting sheep to help you fall asleep, tie on your running shoes and hit the pavement or the treadmill.

Maintaining a regular aerobic exercise routine during the day can keep you from lying awake at night, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

Although it's not known why this works, Dr. David Davila, who practices sleep medicine in Little Rock, Ark., says active people are more likely to get the sleep they need.

Missing out on sleep occasionally is just annoying, but missing out night after night has a cumulative effect that can wreak havoc in the daytime. Sleep-deprived people are far more likely to be involved in a car crash and perform poorly at work.

About 25 percent of the population suffers from insomnia, and as many as 40 percent of older people have trouble sleeping. But the solution to insomnia may be aerobic exercise.

Check out AOL Health for more information about how working out can help you get a great night of sleep.