Does exercising at night affect sleep?
It has been proven that vigorous exercising at night can negatively affect your sleep. Below we’ve explained why exercising within a few hours of sleep may not be very beneficial.
It raises your core temperature
As you exercise, your body temperature increases because of all the extra movement you’re doing. Although this means you’re สมัคร ufabet กับเรา รับโบนัสทันที having a great workout, if you raise your core temperature too much before you go to bed it can impact your sleep. This is because your body temperature actually needs to drop by around 2 degrees before sleeping
Below we’ve explained exactly why this could be a problem for you and how to prevent this:
- Your core body temperature increases as your muscles contract to create heat energy
- This makes you warmer, so your body sweats to cool you down
- If you don’t cool down and stretch properly after your evening workout, your body temperature will take longer to return to normal, which can impact your sleep
To avoid raising your core temperature too much at night, try exercising earlier on in the day or make sure that you take the time to stretch and fully cool down before going to bed.
For more help tips on how to keep you cool, check out our guide for keeping you and your mattress cool.
It makes you more alert
Exercise is beneficial in reducing the stress hormones, but it can make you feel more alert which can impact your sleep if you exercise too close to bedtime.
- The release of the ‘happy’ hormones – endorphins – can make you feel a lot more awake and alert
- This is great during the day as you’ll feel less sleepy, but making yourself feel more alert at night will make it harder for you to fall asleep
- There’s also some evidence to suggest that exercise increases blood flow to the brain, which can make your brain more active, meaning it’ll be more difficult to fully relax before bed
To prevent this from happening, you could try a different type of exercise in the evening, such as:
- Going for a leisurely walk
- Yoga and stretching