SheSue Experience

This is a question I have pondered as I nearly always do some sort of fitness between dinner and bedtime.  Since I often have difficulty getting to sleep, I wondered if the fitness woke me up too much.

Old school says it takes 3 hours before your adrenaline and other hormones that surge during exercise return to normal levels.  Plus specialists said that late exercise can raise core body temperature which needs to drop for healthy sleep.

But study after study failed to find that exercise before bed impairs sleep.  Studies showed no effect on getting to sleep or how well subjects slept.  In fact, one scientist felt that exercising eases anxiety, tires you out and makes you more relaxed.  He also claims that the rise in body temperature is actually beneficial in that the area of the brain that helps lower body temperature promotes sleep.

So exercise when you want.  But pay attention to what your body tells you.  Everybody is different.   If you do find that post-dinner fitness is disrupting your sleep, listen to your body, not science.

This is me on my favorite, an elliptical rider.  What’s your favorite?