Less is more — and more is less — when it comes to physical activity and sleep. A new study in the journal Communications Medicine looked at 28 million days' worth of health data from more than 70,000 people and found that:

1. Less sleep makes it more difficult to exercise.

2. More exercise make it less likely that you'll sleep soundly.

The bottom line is that getting enough quality sleep nightly sets you up for a more active tomorrow, but getting more steps turns out not to improve sleep quality or quantity that night.

The recommendation that you get seven to nine hours of sleep nightly and at least 8,000 steps daily was achieved by just 17% of subjects in the study, and only a tiny percentage of participants got both the recommended amount of exercise and sleep. These deficits set them up for chronic diseases and mental distress.

If you’re aiming to get more physical activity, focus first on your sleep timing and quality, according to the researchers from Australia's Flinders University.

Go to bed and get up at the same time (more or less) every day. Make sure your room is cool, dark, quiet (you can use a white noise machine, if needed), and digital free.

And don't eat or drink within two hours of bedtime — blood sugar swings can wake you up.