You might think that train you in the evening be a good way to relax before going to sleep. Maybe you’ve even happened to feel exhausted after the gym and fall asleep faster. However, new research suggests that you could pay the consequences without realizing it: the evening exercise could in fact compromise the sleep quality And hinder that physical recovery you are trying to get.
An imposing study international, published on Nature Communicationshas monitored almost 15,000 people for over four million sleep nights. Apparently, thephysical exercise late at night (especially the intense one) delays sleep, shortens its duration and weakens its regenerating power.
The study
Josh Leota sleep expert at the Monash University and the main author of the study said:
Intense physical exercise in the evening can maintain the body in a state of greater alert, which is why the guidelines on public health have previously Not recommended to train too close to going to bed. However, the results of controlled laboratory studies are less final, with many who suggest that evening exercise does not necessarily interfere with sleep.
Using wearable biometric devices, researchers have monitored the exercise and sleep habits of 14,689 adults physically active during a year. This has produced over 4 million data relating to night-personal.
The results were concluded: when training ended less than four hours before going to bed, the participants slept in a significantly worse way on several fronts. The results were adjusted by sex, age, day of the week, season, general physical form and sleep of the previous night.
The evening exercise, in particular if it involves high levels of cardiovascular effort, can disturb the following sleep, the heart rate at rest and the variability of the heart rate, thus compromising a critical phase of the recovery process.
If someone ended a high effort training only two hours before trying to sleep, the falling asleep was delayed on average of 36 minutes. There Duration of sleep decreased up to 13.9% and the quality of sleep of over 5% After tall workouts made late. These were not slight interruptions: they influenced people’s ability to fall asleep, to remain asleep and to rest deeply.
But not all evening training are the same, the researchers discovered. The study divided the exercise into four effort – light, moderate, intense and maximal levels – based on cardiovascular load and duration.
A light exercise, like a fast walk or a light swim, has had little or no effect on sleep if performed within that four -hour window. Indeed, if done before in the evening, it could even be related to slightly better results in terms of sleep. The real culprit was high -effort physical activity, such as football matches, hiit circuits or long distance runs.
When you train intensely, the sympathetic nervous system – the one that responds to the “fight or escape” – activates. This leads to a increased heart rate, body temperature and a greater state of alert. For good sleep, the body must move on to parasimpatic mode, a calmer and restful state. But if an exhausting session ends in the gym too late, this step does not happen quite quickly. Instead of relaxing, the body continues to ride the wave of the year.
So if you are trying to optimize both physical and sleep, here is the advice: grant at least four hours between the end of training and your usual time to go to bed. And remember: sleep is not just a moment of inactivity, it is the moment when your body repairs, grows and recalibrates. Interrupt this process with late night training could frustrate the benefits you are looking for.
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