Should i sleep after a workout how to#

We suggest working out no less than 3 hours before you try to sleep to give your body a chance to settle down. These are all things which take time to normalise before you can sleep comfortably. When you exercise, your core temperature increases, stress and adrenaline hormones rise and your heart rate is higher. You might be working out too close to bedtime

Should i sleep after a workout how to#

Here are some of the reasons you might be struggling to get the shut eye you deserve and how to change this: After a hard physical session, you should surely be collapsing into bed, asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow… So why is this not always the case? Sleeping on a day where you’ve exercised can be more difficult than people assume. You’ve ran, swam, lifted, danced or won your game. How to Sleep Better with an Active Lifestyle Sleep releases hormones that help maintain a normal metabolism and promote healthy digestion.Less sleep means less energy to exercise optimally or keep a good physical routine.If you are awake for longer hours you have more time to consume excess calories.We crave different things when we are tired, with high sugar and fatty foods looking more appealing through sleepy eyes.A sugar rush or caffeine boost might be what your body wants, but what it needs is better sleep.

We often combat tiredness with snacks and drinks.There is an incredibly high correlation between sleep deprivation and obesity which could be for several reasons: Getting physical is fundamental to our overall health including weight maintenance. Many of us who exercise regularly will be doing so as more than a hobby. Sleep, Weight Loss and a Healthy Lifestyle If you are so tired that your muscles are suffering, you have a recipe for causing serious harm. Neurological muscle weakness, defined as “decreased muscle strength compared to perceived effort” is associated with chronic fatigue. A familiar workout can feel near-impossible even if you are physically capable when your mind is getting in the way.ĭistracted and exhausted, proper form becomes hard to maintain and the moment you deviate from the correct posture you have a recipe for a serious injury. Tiredness contributes to our mental state, reducing focus and making motivation impossible to come by. Whether you’re a keen athlete or a casual gym goer, you’ll be familiar with the importance of a focused mind. Imagine the increase in risk you take exercising or playing sports when sleep deprived. Fundamentally, less sleep leads to more chance of injury day-to-day. With between 6 and 7 hours sleep, this likelihood is still almost 150% increased. We take for granted that sleep is important after sports, but should we be considering sleep as a pre-workout necessity? Consider this: You are 250% more likely to sustain an injury at work when you sleep for less than 5 hours per night. You are putting the results of your workout on the line when you don’t follow up with good sleep. As you rest, your pituitary gland releases growth hormones to fill and repair this tissue, increasing muscle mass over time. Lifting weights creates micro-tears in muscle. If bulking up or increasing muscle density is your goal, you shouldn’t scrimp on shut eye. Oxygen and nutrients are able to replenish muscles more effectively because of this. Throughout this healing process the brain requires less blood which allows for an increased flow throughout other areas of the body. When we are in deep sleep (stages 3-4 of non-REM sleep) our body is working hard to do most of the muscle recovery we miss out on when awake. The different stages of our sleep cycle each play a role.

So how does our body start to heal whilst we sleep? Without giving yourself a chance to recover, you will not start to heal and continue to put unnecessary stress on your body. Rest and recovery commonly go hand in hand, from relieving the pain of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) to fixing injuries. With all the high-tech workout and recovery tools available to you, should a good night’s sleep be our first investment? Sleep for sport and exercise recovery Fitness tracking apps and devices are increasingly recording our sleep patterns as a standard feature, vital to our health.