Evening exercisers, sleep question
gingerjen7
Posts: 821 Member
For those of you who exercise in the evening or early evening, do you find that it affects your sleep? I've always had a difficult time sleeping; I'm a light sleeper and it also takes me a really long time to fall asleep. I've been working out about an hour after dinner, as I don't have the energy to do it before dinner and I've been too tired to get up and do it in the morning. I've been sleeping pretty poorly lately, too. I seem to spend a lot of my night tossing and turning, having really confused but lucid dreams and then waking up still thinking about the things from my dreams while I toss and turn and try to go back to sleep. Last night I dreamt a lot about numbers, then woke up and kept thinking about how to get numbers to match (awake, I realize that this stems from tracking calories and macros, though in the dream, it was like an episode of Criminal Minds combined with The Dead Zone, having something to do with prophecy and murder) and trying to make my cat's presence significant to my specific dreams (I'm fairly certain I convinced myself that his position on my bed relative to my own was helping me commit murders to fulfill prophecies had by Johnny Smith so that "the numbers all matched up"), all the while repeating the chorus of that stupid Call Me Maybe song over and over and over. It's like my dreams and my wakefulness meld together into one restless night of confusion. I've begun to wonder if it's something chemical related to how late I do my work out. Does anyone else have trouble sleeping when they work out later in the day?
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Nope. I find that, in general, the more consistent I am with work outs the better I sleep, and my usual work out time is around 6 or 7pm, with my bedtime being around 10pm.0
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No, but I gave up caffeine for a couple weeks and realized that was keeping me awake.
Maybe try giving up caffeine. I too am not a early bird, so I exercise in the evening.0 -
Nope. I find that, in general, the more consistent I am with work outs the better I sleep, and my usual work out time is around 6 or 7pm, with my bedtime being around 10pm.
Yep me too0 -
I work out right after work now - 5pm, but I used to work out right after dinner like you are doing now. I never had a problem sleeping due to the excercise - for other reasons, but not exercise. When I have a good workout, I find that I'm pretty tired about an hour or so after and ready for bed.
But, maybe you should try switching up your schedule and workout in the morning?0 -
I always exercise in the evening, between 6 and 7pm usually, and I think it has actually helped improve my sleep
I do still struggle (I've had insomnia for years) but it isn't as bad as it used to be. 0 -
Nope. I find that, in general, the more consistent I am with work outs the better I sleep, and my usual work out time is around 6 or 7pm, with my bedtime being around 10pm.
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I agree]0 -
The only caffeine I have is in the morning from black tea (or coffee the last two days since I forgot to restock my tea supply at work).No, but I gave up caffeine for a couple weeks and realized that was keeping me awake.
Maybe try giving up caffeine. I too am not a early bird, so I exercise in the evening.0 -
I recently quit working out in the evenings and my sleep has already improved. I was having insomnia 2-3 nights per week BAD. I was also over-doing it by working out in the morning AND at night, so I cannot blame it all on the evening workouts.
Currently giving my body a much needed break and it is thanking me. Morning workouts are my saving grace now. I hate mornings, too, but it has really been helping my sleep. Good luck!!
oh, also I discovered some great hypnosis apps for android and ipad. My favorite is by Darren Marks and zonks me out every single time.0 -
Hi there! I'm an evening exerciser - a bootcamp class from 7:00 to 8:00pm twice a week and sometimes a kickboxing class from 7:15 to 8:15pm. It usually helps me sleep but if I've had a particulary hard workout and I'm "achy" then I can't sleep. I know that taking a hot bath with epsom salts usually helps me relax and unwind (mentally and physically) when I get home. Sounds like you're making yourself crazy with the counting calories thing.......go easy on yourself if they aren't what you want them to be.0
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I have my evening krav maga classes 8.30-10.00 or even 10.30 and tra afterwards i'm full on adrenaline and i cannot sleep till 2 o'clock in the night. And usually just drink an expresso in the morning and one after noon. With some exceptions I have the third around 5 o'clock.0
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I work late and exercise afterwards...not getting to the gym until 9 p.m. or so. If I work out hard enough, my body is physically ready for sleep when I get home. I try to be in bed around 11 p.m. Good luck to you!0
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Exercise usually tires me out so much that I sleep like a BABY the night of a workout. It's the day AFTER the workout that I struggle to sleep. Always feels like I'm full of so much energy that my body can't settle. It sucks.
![:\](https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/resources/emoji/confused.png ":\")
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When I workout really hard in the evening I don't sleep that good. I am like an energy ball and awake at 3 or 4 in the morning.
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i sleep better when i exercise in the evening. especially if im doing strength dvds like jillian micheals 30 day shred or no more trouble zones0
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I work out between 8:00 & 9:00 usually (after my dd is asleep). I take a shower after that and then eat dinner and then go to sleep. No sleep issues here- actually I've been sleeping better then I ever used to.0
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I ran at about 6ish today (it varies, depending on how much I actually have to do during the day) and I'm ready to hit the hay already! I often am when I workout in the evenings, so maybe it's just a personal thing.0
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Good questions. An intense workout first thing in the morning seems to wake me up. Yet an intense workout in the PM gets me primed and ready for bed.0
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I workout starting about 4:30 pm after work.. workouts usually last anywhere from 40-65 mins... tough high intensity workouts... I usually will not sit on my tush until about 8pm, then I rest for about 1 1/2 hr before I go up to bed... I HAVE to have that unwind time otherwise I will not sleep.. I have MS so insomnia is my best friend!! I have valium to take, it is that SHHHHHH that my brain needs sometimes to turn off.. Try switching the times that your working out or maybe do some yoga to help calm your brain....0
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:laugh:Sounds like you're making yourself crazy with the counting calories thing.......go easy on yourself if they aren't what you want them to be.
No, you just need more context. The numbers were related to counting calories in this specific instance, but I'm a mathematician, and while mathematics is more about logic than about numbers, I've always had a small obsession with numbers, and when I was in college I used to lie in bed for hours thinking about calculus questions, and later about proofs. I would just keep trying to make things work until I had to get up, turn the lights on and grab a pen and paper and work it out.
Unfortunately, it's kind of a vicious cycle: I sleep so poorly that I'm so tired in the morning I feel like I can't get up and also that I'm justified in not getting up early because I need to sleep, but then I have to work out in the evening. I should probably just force myself out of bed to work out and see if that helps, but I'm doing better at sticking to a work out schedule by working out in the evening then I ever was when I would try to work out in the morning. I'd be good for three weeks, and then I'd start sleeping in and fall off the wagon for months at a time. I definitely don't want to repeat that.0 -
My usual bed time is 930ish. If I don't get my workout completed by 6pm, I cannot sleep. I just stay energized. Have you tried an herbal tea like Celestial Seasonings sleepytime or tension tamer before bed? Sometimes when I can tell I won't be able to sleep that night, I try that and it really helps me relax. Plus the warmth of the tea helps me feel nice and full.0
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I have insomnia. I used to work out at 5 am and it didn't make a bit of difference if I did it in the morning or after work 0
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I do my second workout around 8 (depending on when the kids goes to sleep), only 25 mins of 30DS. I have found that it does take me longer to fall asleep about 2 hours after I finish working out. But once I fall asleep, I am out for the rest of the night. If I do have problems sleeping, I take a single dose of melatonin (something I discovered when I couldn't sleep in Afghanistan) It works for me and isn't habit forming.0
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I suppose that's worth a shot, but I'm not sure it would work for me being such a light sleeper. I need to have my room as dark as possible and as silent as possible. I cover my stereo with two bandanas, which I wrap around the front and then I lean a book against that to make sure no light seeps out from the sides of the bandanas, I turn my clock around to face the wall and put a book on top of that to block the light that comes from between the clock and the wall, and I use black out curtains. I also have to slide the laptops under the bed and cover the chargers/batteries with socks so that there's no glow from those. Sometimes even the slightest noises wake me, and I've actually dreamt noises so real that they woke me, thinking my phone is ringing or someone is knocking on the door, but it's not real. You'd think after 30 years I'd be used to it, not sleeping well, but it seems to be getting worse. There have been times lately where I've actually semi-hallucinated movement on my bed, like my son or my cat has come into my room and jolted the bed, but there's no one there. Pretty frickin' ridiculous.oh, also I discovered some great hypnosis apps for android and ipad. My favorite is by Darren Marks and zonks me out every single time.0 -
I normally try to finish exercising by 6pm so I can start to wind down. However, that being said, I find I finish up around 9pm. I then find if I meditate for about 20 minutes I start to feel calmer and can go to sleep with little tossing and turning. The meditation seems to help in that respect. However for those nights I don't calm down, I take some valerian root and melatonin. The valerian root is great for calming and the melatonin helps me to stay asleep. I have plenty of stuff on my mind and the one thing I find that keeps the thoughts from overtaking me is not to watch intense movies or shows. Just ideas.0
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I find that I sleep much deeper and usually fall asleep within 5 to 10 minutes. I haven't taken ambien for weeks now.0
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I exercise in the evening, anywhere from 7-10 and after I get home and shower, I am ready for bed and beat tired. Then I sleep great and wake up feeling even better. It's rejuvenating! 0
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I am a insomniac. I work out hard until 7.15pm.... Really hard. I don't drink caffeine and I don't sleep a wink. Sleep is already bad but so much worse after exercise at night! I feel your pain! Don't know what to do about it though! X0
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i've tried exercising in the morning before work, i know a lot of people prefer it to "wake them up" but it does the exact opposite for me. it makes me feel sore and tired and all i want to do after my workout dvd is take the dog for a nice 20 minute walk to cool off then curl up in my bed. i work out after work. (usually anytime between 11pm-12am) my work hours are different though, i work 2-10 and 3-11 shifts. i've found it's the best routine for me. also, i drink a lot of water throughout the day and only drink 1 diet pop a day (if i even have a pop) and it really helps not having all that extra caffeine and sugar in me.0
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Agreed. I sleep better after my evening workouts. I'm not a morning person and struggle to have the same energy for working out in the mornings.0
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If I work out too close to bed I can't sleep. I get a lot of endorphins and adrenaline and it's just no good. I work out right after work (I get to the gym around 6) and I have found that working out at this time helps me sleep better at eleven. Everything starts to fade by ten and I am in bed lights out an hour later.0
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