Exercise and Sleep

xmiragex
xmiragex Posts: 6
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey Everyone! I'm fairly new here (I've had an account for a while but never really used it until recently). I'm hoping to stay on track and have a really healthy and wonderful 2013.

I have a question about sleep and exercise. I've been a fairly active person my whole life, but one of the things I find is that when I increase my activity level (intensity wise, mostly) is that I have a harder time sleeping. Most people say that exercise helps you sleep but it's the opposite for me. Over the holidays, I didn't exercise and I slept like a baby! And now that I'm back at the gym, my sleeping issues are coming back. I don't exercise super late into the evening - I'm usually home from the gym around 6:00pm. Sometimes I'll go for an evening walk with my husband and our dogs, but it's nothing super exerting that should keep me awake at all hours of the night. I also don't drink coffee or any caffeine past 10am. I've tried researching different reasons but almost everything says that exercise makes you sleep better. I'm at a loss!

Does anyone else have this problem? Any ideas what's going on?

Thanks!

Replies

  • Jennifer0878
    Jennifer0878 Posts: 94 Member
    I have a hard time sleeping if I exercise at night (or any time past 3:00 p.m). Is there a way you could try exercising in the mornings to see if that helps? Exercising raises your heart rate and gives you endorphins, which will increase your energy level. Maybe that is why you are having a hard time sleeping. I'll be curious to see what others suggest. Good luck and way to go with getting back on track with your exercising!
  • ejwme
    ejwme Posts: 318
    I have the opposite issue - when I have an insomniac night I know that I've skimped on my runs (or ran way too late, but sometimes lack of sleep is the lesser evil).

    But I have a friend who is a horrible sleeper and he can't exercise in the morning - he's recently taken to wearing his HRM overnight (just to see, if you've got one it's highly entertaining and can be informative). And we noticed that when he exercises even at 8PM for around 40 minutes, and doesn't go to bed till 11, it still takes his heart rate another 2 hours to get down to a plateau of what appears to be his true resting heart rate. That's a 5 hour decline, minimum - for him, but he doesn't notice the difference in his (poor) sleep quality. For me, I am an insomniac if I don't stop by 8PM, but just avoid it so haven't looked at my HR data. Maybe wear a HRM for a night or two and see if it gives you any clues?
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    Dodgy sleep can be a sign of overtraining, undereating for your activity level or just general stress.

    It's really hard to know if you do, but you need to have adequate recovery in an exercise programme. Plus, the harder you train the more you need to up your intake. You'll find mood swings, crappy sleep, irritability, lethargy during the day are all common if you don't have these two things.
  • cleotherio
    cleotherio Posts: 712 Member
    When I first started P90x, I would fall sound asleep for about an hour and then be wide awake for about an hour and a half. After a couple weeks, I adjusted and now I can usually have a normal night's sleep. I always work out in the morning.
  • xmiragex
    xmiragex Posts: 6
    Hey all! Thanks for your feedback. I really appreciate it.

    I'm definitely going to try the HRM thing. I have one and it would be really interesting to see what's going on with my heart while I'm sleeping.

    I don't think it has anything to do with overtraining or undereating. I never let myself go hungry and while I have upped my intensity, I don't think I'm over doing. Other than the dodgy sleep, I feel great.

    I think working out in the morning might be an effective solution - I just really struggle with it as I've never, in my life, been a morning person and and have never kept up early AM workouts long enough to see if it has an impact on my sleep. Another resolution for 2013 I guess!
  • Sycoholic
    Sycoholic Posts: 282 Member
    Sounds like you're just kicking up your metabolism (as what happens when working out) and possibly that's keeping you wired. There's endorphines that come into play and a variety of things your body does. I'd say that must suck. I have an opposite reaction. If I don't go to the gym i can't sleep. I'll lay in bed fidgeting until i fall asleep hours later.

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