Though exercise has been shown to help you sleep better, evidence also supports that a heavy sweat session in the gym, especially in the late hours, might eat into your sleep cycle. The culprit: the increased levels of adrenaline and and cortisol due to strenuous exercise that can prevent you from falling asleep.
What a study found
While a 2013 by the National Sleep Foundation found that over 80% of people said they slept better after exercise and woke up fewer times during the night, what was also found was that ‘overdoing’ it in the gym was a major cause of insomnia. Aggressive exercising or over- exercising backfired when it came to helping folks cool down and feel calm — a crucial state of being for sleep. This over- exercising also causes tissues to break down and get inflamed and make for longer recovery time. Due to the rise in the body’s stress response to this, it causes the secretion of adrenaline and norepinephrine. This increases the heart rate, flow of blood to muscles, metabolism and overall alertness, which makes it take longer to drift off to sleep.
I – Word Understanding
Insomnia – sleeplessness.
II – Have Your Say
5 signs that you’re over-training
-Feeling listless and lethargic.
-Irritability and sudden mood changes.
-Chronic fatigue.
-Loss of appetite.
-Reduced workout performance.
