What time should you exercise to sleep better?
It might not seem like it, but exercising really helps improve your quality of life and sleep. But do you know what time of day you should work out to sleep better? Here at Morfeo, we know the benefits exercise brings to your health and rest, so don't miss our new post!
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Exercising Before Bed
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Exercising in the Morning
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Exercising in the Afternoon
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Benefits of Exercising for Better Sleep
Daily exercise brings a ton of benefits for your physical and mental health and well-being. It also helps you fall asleep better and improves sleep quality. Here are the main benefits of working out:
- Improves physical fitness and endurance
- Regulates blood pressure
- Improves insulin resistance
- Helps maintain fitness and body weight
- Increases muscle mass and strength
- Improves flexibility
- It's good for your joints
- Reduces fatigue
- Relaxes your mind
- Helps you fall asleep and sleep better
Exercising Before Bed
Among our usual daily routines, it's a good idea to include a daily dose of exercise. This helps us feel better, more energetic, rested, relaxed, and ready to face the day positively. Plus, if you suffer from insomnia, a little daily exercise can help you fall asleep.
Stress, our fast-paced lives, kids, work, and a sedentary lifestyle are some of the things that affect how well we fall asleep at night. When worries stick around for too long, insomnia can pop up. Exercising is a fantastic way to help calm and relax your mind. During that time, we just focus on our breathing and the activity we're doing.
This creates a significant moment of disconnection that helps us relax and sleep better. As the National Sleep Foundation points out, exercise usually makes it easier to fall asleep and helps you get more restorative rest.
What time should you exercise to sleep better?
While exercise helps you fall asleep, it's important to know when to do it. If you work out right before bed, it'll actually have the opposite effect. To get good rest and truly restorative sleep, you need to exercise at the right times.
The best way to figure out the perfect time to exercise is by listening to your own circadian rhythm. This biological rhythm affects your body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. These are the clues that tell us when our body is most ready for physical activity.
It really depends on the person. However, it's usually guided by light and dark phases, and the seasons. When you exercise, your body releases endorphins, which speeds up your system and nervous activity. This nervous system activation usually lasts a while, and when you add in stress, nerves, etc.
It can make it harder to fall asleep. That's why you need to remember that your body needs some time to calm down after the buzz from exercise. If you prefer working out in the late afternoon or evening, it's best to do it about three hours before you hit the hay, to help your body relax after all that physical activity.
If you're an early bird who loves to work out, any time is good! Just keep in mind that boost or activation that exercise gives you.
Exercising in the Morning
Morning workouts actually help you sleep better at night. They can lead to more hours of sleep and deeper sleep cycles. Plus, exercising outdoors helps you get your daily dose of Vitamin D (thanks to sunlight!), which makes you feel better and regulates your sleep-wake cycle.
Exercising in the Afternoon
The later you exercise, the more it can contribute to insomnia. But this doesn't apply to all types of physical activity. A one-hour walk in the evening provides the daily amount of physical activity you need and won't make you sleep worse.
Doing activities like yoga or Pilates in the afternoon might actually be better than in the mornings. These are calmer sports, and since your body is warmer later in the day, it helps your muscles work better and prevents injuries. Workouts with aerobic activities can help you fall asleep in the evenings. But really intense workouts can lead to insomnia.
Morfeo Mattress Recommends
Here at Morfeo mattresses, we're all about helping you get great rest, and we really care about the quality of your sleep. We recommend all sorts of activities that can help you achieve restorative sleep, and that includes exercise! The most important thing before picking a time to get active is to know your own body.
You need to know how much exercise revs you up and how long it takes for that buzz to wear off. If you're someone who stays active and energetic for a long time, then maybe working out in the mornings would be ideal for you. That way, you can use all that energy to tackle your day!
Ultimately, each person knows best what exercise schedule works for them. But hey, if you pair it with a relaxing bath and a light dinner, you're guaranteed a good rest and restorative sleep. And for that, at Morfeo, we've got the best mattress for rest and the best pillow.
Because having a good mattress when it's time to sleep is super important for getting quality shut-eye.
