Exercising late at night can raise your heart rate and disrupt your sleep, according to a study. Exercise can leave you dehydrated and releases stress hormones in the body, keeping you awake.
Reasons why you shouldn't train late at night according to the study:
Increase alertness
When you exercise, the adrenal gland is activated to produce adrenaline, which is known as epinephrine. This increases the heart rate. This also increases oxygen levels and blood flow to the muscles, which disrupts sleep.
It stimulates the nervous system
Intense workouts can stimulate the nervous system and increase heart rate, which can take time to return to normal. This also disturbs your sleep. Some intense exercises include running, swimming, cycling and lifting heavy weights.
The nervous system needs time to recover. As a result, you will feel sore muscles and sleep poorly.
It damages the muscles
When you do an intense workout, your muscles get damaged. Rest is the main way to have healthy muscles. Since exercising before bed can disrupt your sleep, it can also disrupt the muscle growth process.
Experts suggest 2 simple ways to combat the negative effects of late night exercise:
- Make sure you exercise at least three hours before bed
- Take a hot shower to relax your muscles
