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A late workout shouldn’t hinder your sleep. It could even help
- Mc_Big_G 9y agoHeavy strength training, especially deadlift, undoubtedly affect my sleep even if I exercise in the morning. At night would make it impossible to sleep. Eating more seems to help, but I definitely sleep worse or less on those days.
- omilu 9y agoI'm the total opposite. I sleep like a baby on days that i lift, even if i lift late and go to bed immediately after.
- DrScump 9y agoSame here. I find a brief, effective lifting session to promote sleep; cardio has the opposite effect.
- sputknick 9y agoHave you tried a Zinc and Magnesium supplement? When I powerlift close to bed, I take some ZMA to promote growth hormones. It makes me sleep like a baby.
- Mc_Big_G 9y agoYeah, ZMA makes it worse. I have crazy intense dreams. Also, vitamins tend to make me feel depressed, even Vitamin D.
- vitaminbandit 9y agoI don't buy it. Exercise increases cortisol, cortisol increases wakefulness. Cortisol is, in fact, the very hormone that makes you wake up in the morning.
- adrianmonk 9y agoYeah, me neither, though in my case it's based on personal experience. Whenever I go for a run, my alertness jumps way up for several hours afterward. If it's in the morning, I get a better start to the day. If it's in the evening, I am energetic and completely uninterested in sleep for 3-4 hours. I do agree that exercise increases your quality of sleep. I've found that it improves my sleep so much that I don't need nearly as much of it. But that's a separate question from whether it delays the start of sleep.
- trapperkeeper79 9y agoUsual rant .. I think paywalled articles don't have a place on Google search results and also HN. I suppose someone will reply telling me to change my user-agent or something else. Edit: actually .. scratch that .. I should have an option on HN to not see paywalled links. Can someone on the dev team make that happen?
- DrScump 9y agoWP is not a solid paywall; there's just a limit counter. Read in an incognito window and dismiss when necessary.
- tluyben2 9y agoIs it dependent on age? I could not sleep at all after working out at 25 at night; doing the same (weights and martial arts) at 40+, I pass out hitting the pillow. Which is excellent. Makes me want to do it more, because if I do not, I have issues sleeping more often.
- danieltillett 9y agoWhen I was a uni student I spent a summer waking up every day at 5 am and working out until 7 am, eating breakfast and then going back to sleep until 9.30am. When I would wake up the second time I would feel like I hadn't worked out at all. My growth rate (in both strength and size) was phenomenal and I was never able to get close with any other routine.
- GoToRO 9y agoWell as with everything it depends: If you just started out (less than two weeks, 4 days/week) then it will make you more awake. If you passed this point then there is enough fatigue accumulated that your body just wants to rest/sleep. I would still recommend to finish training 3-4 hours before sleep.