Just How Bad Is It to Exercise at Night?

Just How Bad Is It to Exercise at Night?


by Fiora Stevens on February 12, 2013

Conventional wisdom says don’t exercise at night. After all, doesn’t exercise get your heart racing and activate hormones that aren’t exactly sleep inducing? Well, yes and no. Let’s take a deeper dive into this question and separate some of the myths from science.

There are four main reasons that many people use to argue that you shouldn’t exercise at night:

Exercise increases your body’s core temperature for 4-5 hours.

Exercise releases endorphins.

Exercise increases epinephrine levels.

“It just isn’t healthy.”

Let’s address these four reasons, looking at the science and rationalization behind them.

Core Temperature

Your body maintains a core temperature of 98.6 ºF, which is healthy for most people. Exercise will raise your body’s core temperature, which is perfectly normal and healthy. In extreme cases, body temperature can even go as high as 104 ºF (which is unhealthy). However, rest and hydration will bring your body temperature back down to normal.

It takes 4-5 hours for your body to return to its normal, resting temperature. However, after thirty minutes to an hour, depending on the intensity of your workout, your body should feel normal – not warm enough to interfere with your sleep.

Endorphins

Many people who are against working out at night claim that the release of endorphins, which happens in exercise, makes it more difficult to sleep. However, other scientific studies have revealed that the release of endorphins through sex actually helps you sleep. It seems that endorphins themselves aren’t the problem. Rather, people are more prone to shirk the responsibilities of exercise and enjoy the pleasures of sex before going to bed!

Epinephrine Levels

It’s well known that epinephrine/adrenaline increases during exercise. The question is, does the presence of epinephrine last long enough to interfere with sleep? Generally speaking, once your heart rate has returned to normal (which should happen a half hour after exercise) the epinephrine in your body should have stabilized. Bottom line? Finish workouts at least a half hour before you want to go to bed.

“Just Not Healthy”

This is an excuse spoken by people who are either ignorant about science or lazy. Don’t let them stop you from pursuing optimum health with a workout routine. If you can only workout at night, that’s okay. We encourage you to go for it!

Why All the Argument Against Night Time Exercising?

Most experts tend to agree that the reason exercising at night has gotten such a bad rap is that most people are looking for an excuse not to exercise! If the evening is the only available time in your schedule, it’s easy to dismiss exercise in the name of sleep.

Plus, if you’re already exhausted, exercise will only make you more tired. And, contrary to what you might expect, being completely exhausted does not mean better sleep. Over-exhaustion, which could be the result of daily life and late night exercise, can interfere with good sleep.

(Check out some tips from WebMD on coping with exhaustion and sleep.)

Sources:http://firstaid.webmd.com/body-temperature