If you have ever had a good workout and after a great night’s sleep, you already know that exercise is associated with better sleep.
“We know there are many specific physical effects of exercise on sleep itself,” says certified clinical psychologist Michael J. Breus, PhD, also known as The Sleep Doctor.
“Research shows that regular exercise seems to give people deeper sleep – in the third and fourth stages.” Dr. Breus also says that it seems to make people sleep more and reduce stress, which could also affect your sleep.
The question is how to exercise for better sleep. Because some workouts can have the opposite effect, depending on the time of day you do them, they work a bit like drinking coffee.
While exercise improves overall sleep quality, and according to the Johns Hopkins Sleep Center, people who engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise each day may notice a difference in sleep quality overnight, there is still debate about which a cardiovascular exercise should be performed at this time of day.
One of the main reasons for this – exercise raises the core temperature of the body. “As our body cools, starting at about 10:30 pm, this is a signal for the brain to release melatonin to begin the sleep process,” explains Dr. Breus. “If you exercise too close to bedtime, in about three to four hours, you will artificially raise your body temperature and then disturb your sleep.”
The other “culprit” for the energy boost you can get from a workout? Neurochemicals released by the body during exercise, also known as endorphins.
“There is no doubt that exercise can trigger a level of alertness, which translates to ‘waking up,'” he said. Breus. Greater workouts that stress your body in the sense that they cause an increase in endorphins (as well as cortisol, the stress hormone, which is naturally lower while you sleep).
This is why running and other high-intensity workouts are not ideal at bedtime.
If you have trouble falling asleep after a workout, try exercising earlier in the day or if you need to do your activity close to bedtime, Dr. Breus recommends low-intensity exercise. “Something like yoga can be wonderful,” he says. Exercising meditative breathing exercises and stretching can also improve the quality of your sleep, as they slow down your heart rate and help relax your brain.
In conclusion, exercise improves the quality of sleep, but you want to avoid doing long, stressful workouts within three or four hours before bedtime, to avoid poor sleep. So maybe you should postpone HIIT training until the morning!
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