WILL EVENING WORKOUT RUIN YOUR SLEEP?

By Kevin Jones

Say you’ve had a busy day to the point that you were unable to do your workout and now it’s the evening. Since it wasn’t one of your rest days and you want to stick to your workout schedule, you’re now looking at an evening workout as well as a sleepless night. Or are you?

EVENING WORKOUTS CAN BE IDEAL

If you have found that you aren’t a morning person, or are just a busy person who mainly has free time in the late afternoon and morning, you are in luck. Because, contrary to popular belief, science has started to prove that evening workouts can be great for your sleep!

In fact, researchers took a variety of studies which looked at how exercise affects those who workout in the evening. They were surprised to see that exercise not only wasn’t bad for people but helped the participants sleep better. So, if you are worried that your evening workout will lead to sleeplessness, you can drop that concern, and you might even enjoy an even better night’s sleep.

WHAT WORKOUTS SHOULD YOU DO IN THE EVENING

If you are sold on the idea of working out at night, there are some exercises which can be better for you than others. Some types of workouts you may want to try in the evenings are:

“Balasana, Child’s Pose, is a restorative pose that can be practiced on its own or as part of a routine…”

→  Yoga – Now, there are many different yoga practices, and not all of them will be particularly restful, such as Bikram or Vinyasa yoga. Instead, styles like Hatha and Iyengar can be excellent for soothing movements before bed. Or, you can simply make up your own routine out of various calming yoga poses.

→  Walking – Going on an evening walk can have multiple benefits. Not only can you put in some exercise time, but going on evening walks can help you unwind peacefully after a long day of stress.

→  HIIT – Not all your evening workouts have to be slow or low-impact. As long as you do your vigorous workouts at least an hour before bed, you should be fine. To make sure that your workout won’t overlap with your bedtime, it’s best that you stick to HIIT workouts. So, if you are looking for those running brain benefits in the evening, just go on a quick, interval run and enjoy some excellent sleep.

→  Bodyweight exercises – Rather than pumping iron before bed, you can simply do bodyweight exercises to both build up your strength and relax your body before bed. As these exercises require specialized muscle movements and tension, it can have a similar effect as yoga, only with a greater emphasis on muscle development rather than flexibility.

So, whether you want to work out in the morning, afternoon, or evening, you can feel free to work out and know that you will be able to sleep restfully no matter what time you exercise.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kevin Jones is a health and fitness blogger and a regular contributor to a number of fitness websites. He writes for NordicTrack. During his free time, he likes to be very active and spend time with his wife and two children shredding the slopes of Park City, Utah or chasing down the Salt Lake City Korean food trucks. Connect with him online; LinkedIn– Twitter

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