Exercise For Better Sleep

Exercise for better sleep

Exercise for better sleep?

Those of us who exercise know that it’s not only essential for great health, but it helps you modulate your energy resulting in more purposeful, restful sleep.

But what about all that advice you keep hearing about how working out at night can mess with your internal clock, or how working out too early tires you out throughout the day? Is it true?

Like with most things in life, the answer is – “sort of”.

Studies like this one show that early morning exercise is great for improving sleep.

Participants in the 7 AM exercise group had reduced blood pressure throughout the day, including a good 25% dip at night, as well as improved sleep duration and an increase in beneficial sleep cycles.

Yet this one points out that exercising at night is only detrimental to your sleep if you’re putting in an intense effort.

Cardiovascularly speaking, that’s about 80% max heart rate. Individuals enrolled in the study took an additional 14 minutes on average to fall asleep, but that is with only an hour to cool down before bed time meaning they had elevated heart rates and core temperatures.

Your body cools you as it prepares for sleep, so you can see how this would be counter intuitive.

The most important thing is finding the right balance for you.

If you’re having to radically realign your lifestyle to work in a morning run, you may be inadvertently harming your sleep more than you’re helping it.

Meanwhile, if the only time you can squeeze in a workout is after the kids go to sleep, don’t fret – it’s likely having a minimal impact.