Restless sleep after working out

hodgin9314

I'm in a position where I have to do my workout in the evening. I usuly wait about an hour after dinner or more and haven't had any issues.... until bed time. I eat about 5:30 workout at 7 (30-45min) and go to bed around 9:30. I can not seem to fall asleep, I toss and turn and though I'm physically and mentally tired I feel like I drank an energy drink. I know this is somewhat to be expected but curious if anyone has any tips that might help. I'm not able to workout in the mornings. Getting 5 kids ready for the school day it's just too stressful and I find reasons not to do it. I'm proud that I've started adding it to night but we'd love others advice.
Thanks so much.

DancingMoosie

Have you tried taking magnesium before bed?

cmriverside

Oh my goodness. Well, with five kids I'm thinking you could easily lose weight with just watching your calories.

Also, it's not necessary to get all your exercise in one session. You can break that up into small chunks. 10 minutes while the dinner is cooking. 5 minutes while you're on hold on the phone. 5 minutes while the coffee brews etc.

Your life with five kids will be so active that you most likely don't need much regular planned exercise. Just focus on food and keeping track of portions for now.

zebasschick

i've always had trouble sleeping after a workout. working out gets the adrenaline pumping for me, so i either can't sleep at all or wake up over and over. sometimes it helps to listen to an audiobook - something relaxing and fiction.

btw, i find doing light cardio when stressed - which was recommended years ago by a doctor - takes the edge off the stress.

westrich20940

Unfortunately, as you stated, this is somewhat expected. Some things to try:

1. Add a calming tea or something to your bedtime routine (camomille, sleepytime tea, etc.).
2. Take a hot shower (or better yet, if you can, a bath) before bed. It can help relax and even help your body cooldown after a workout.
3. Have a good sleep routine -- this is important for everyone having trouble falling asleep in general. But try to do the same things before bed (that includes limiting screentime before bed) and go to bed at the same time everyday. I'd suggest incorporating some sort of grounding habit (quick stretches with some deep breathing, find a quick nighttime yoga routine to try) after your workout and before bed.
4. I personally do take a magnesium supplement - specifically glycinate. I find that I don't wake up as often through the night on the days I take it. It's fairly safe for generally healthy adults (i.e. it's not highly dangerous to supplement with it). I do find that I get some heartburn if I don't take it with food and don't take it like, right before laying down.

I hope some or all of that helps! Getting good sleep is like --- so so so important.

AnnPT77

In addition to good advice above, if the problem is getting to sleep in the first place, some kind of simple meditation-like practice when in bed may help, just to get your mind settled and keep it from circling around on issues of the day.

This needn't be some mystical, spiritual thing - it can just be a "progressive relaxation" exercise, where you start at your head and consciously relax each body part moving down your body - top of head, forehead, eyes, jaw, neck . . . etc., devoting a few seconds to each area. Some versions suggest you tense each area, then relax it. (Lots of different instruction sets available via web search: Choose one you trust.)

If you fall asleep on the way, perfect. If not, restart again at the top, or count breaths (without changing breathing) going backward from 100 to 1, or something like that.

Another option, rather than the progressive relaxation, is just some attention to breath, or a neutral practice like Benson's Relaxation Response (Herbert Benson is a medical doctor, faculty at Harvard U., who researched this).

This is one explanation of how to do that: http://www.relaxationresponse.org/steps/

There are others on the web, too. The idea of any of this is just to settle one's mind, stop it hopping all over the place. These (above) are entirely non-religious examples. If you have a strong religious faith, you may find that your faith has some meditation practice that can be used in a similar way - certainly all the major religions do, and they tend to have some similarities.

jmf552

I have multiple, clinically diagnosed and treated sleep disorders and I have probably studied this issue more than most non-medical people. I also exercise in the evening because I study martial arts and that is when the classes are. I agree with all the replies above and I think you should try those suggestions first before mine. And this is not me giving medical advice! Consult a good sleep doctor!

I know some may flame me for this suggestion, but sometimes, just sometimes, a prescription sleep aid is called for. There are meds that will just get you knocked out and then wear off quickly, letting your own sleep cycle take over. Do review the side effects of anything your doctor might prescribe.