Exercise is very important. It’s a must, at least for most people, to squeeze it into their everyday schedule, no matter how hectic it may be. Sometimes after a day filled with school, work, errands and anything else life may have thrown at you, the last chance you have to get to the gym is at 9 pm, well after the sun’s gone down.
So, that begs the question, is it okay to workout before bed?
From what I’ve gathered, it is not recommended to workout before going to sleep, simply because your heart rate and temperature are up. This can cause feelings of restlessness when you get home and start trying to relax.
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However, according to the New Health Advisor, exercising before bed does not affect everyone in the same way. It could actually help some fall asleep more quickly. The New Health Advisor suggests that if it does affect your sleep, “simply make sure that your exercise is over two hours before your bedtime.”
CNN also did a study regarding whether or not working out at night would affect your sleep. What they found was that most people seemed to fall asleep just fine, with or without working out before bed.
In 2013, the National Sleep Foundations did a “Sleep in America” poll. According to this poll, a great majority of those participants who “exercised at anytime of day reported sleeping better than those who didn’t exercise at all.”
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The New Health Advisor also suggest that it is important to time your workouts. It suggests that any kind of cardio should be done in the afternoon, since “your body temperature peaks in the afternoon” while, weight lifting should be done “in the evening between five and seven.”
When it comes down to it, we workout when we can. If you find yourself exercising during nights and evenings and you think it’s keeping you up, try these three steps:
1. Do some cool down stretching
2. Take a short cold shower
3. Try some deep breathing exercises
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