Your workday is demanding, and the fitness monoliths are well aware of it. Fortunately, with a home gym or membership to a 24/7 facility, you can work out at any hour of the day. However, while it is a great benefit to your physique, you may be causing considerable harm to your body internally.
Daytime Exercise and Sleep
If you exercise in the daytime on a regular basis, you are making great strides toward achieving consistent sleep at night. According to a study conducted by the European Sleep Research Society, "Twelve months of moderate-intensity exercise reduced night-to-night fluctuations in self-rated time to fall asleep" in a control group of 36 adults with moderate sleep complaints. A long workout tires you out hours later when it is time to go to sleep, but that isn't the body's response immediately following the exercise.
Problems With Nighttime Exercise
During the workout, your body recognizes the physical stress you are exerting and adjusts to the stimulation with the release of endorphins, which affect your internal organs considerably. For example, when neurochemist Choh Hao Li discovered an endorphin called enkephalin in 1975, he found "it was 48 times more powerful than morphine," according to a PBS report. Working out at night and then trying to sleep means you are fighting your body's natural response.
Sleep Patterns
To avoid disrupting your sleep, analyze your lifestyle before you begin to work out at night. If you work the late shift, exercising at night will have little to no effect on your sleep patterns because your body is already wired to stay awake at night with an altered circadian period. MayoClinic.com recommends activities that emphasize the cardiovascular system, such as tennis, swimming and jogging, for the best sleep results.
No Other Options
If you have no time for a long workout except for late night hours, all is not lost. A study by the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School found that the brain's production of melatonin was not altered by exercise if the exercise was somewhat constant throughout the day. In other words, your body won't signal the stress responses typically fired during exercise if you are an active person in general. Ride your bike, take the stairs, or squeeze in some pushups between clients and you should be fine.
References
- "Journal of Sleep Research"; Exercise Effects on Nighttime Fluctuations in Self-Rated Sleep Among Older Adults With Sleep Complaints; M.P. Buman, et al.; March 2011
- PBS: Role of Endorphins Discovered
- "Journal of Biological Rhythms"; Exercise Distributed Across Day and Night Does Not Alter Circadian Period in Humans; C.W. Cain, et al.; December 2007
- MayoClinic.com; Early Bird or Night Owl? Plan Exercise Accordingly; Mayo Clinic Staff; December 2009
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