Exercising before bed: good or bad for the body?

Best time for fitness: morning, afternoon or evening? 23 March 2011, 03:00 | Katya Kozhevnikova

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Since childhood, we are accustomed to hearing that exercise in the morning is very important and useful. And somehow it just came into my head that I should do sports in the morning. But in the body, this belief often cannot “take shape” - in the morning, your legs and arms are wobbly, your eyes are stuck together, and the last thing you want to do is start training. So, maybe a different time of day is better for playing sports? Individual trainer of the 100% Fitness Center Evgeniy Karlov told us when and why it is better to train.

On the one hand, morning workouts are indeed recognized by experts as the most useful. “It is useful to exercise in the morning, because the body has just woken up and rested after sleep. It is no coincidence that in all armies of the world physical activity is given in the morning, before breakfast. Morning jogging helps burn excess fat and improve metabolism,” says Evgeniy Karlov .

But there is another side to the coin. Without really waking up, you cannot load your body to the maximum, this can be harmful. “You shouldn’t go to the gym in the morning and try to lift the maximum weight. Work at this time should not be at the peak of strength. A moderately strenuous workout with mixed aerobic and anaerobic activity is best. For example, go for a run in the morning and do some exercises,” the coach explained.

Another suitable time for training is two hours after breakfast . By this time, the body had finally woken up and managed to get energy from food. At this time, according to Karlov, it is already possible to give strength training.

“But the most suitable time for exercise - when a person enters peak load - comes two hours after lunch, from 3 to 5 o'clock in the afternoon. By this point, the body has managed to replenish all the necessary energy. Professional athletes usually have 2 workouts – morning and afternoon,” said Evgeniy.

But standard evening workouts for working people are more of a necessity, because the evening is not the best time for sports. “After 6 o’clock in the evening the body prepares for sleep, all processes in it slow down. Therefore, you need to train carefully in the evening. There is no need to overexert yourself, this can lead to poor sleep,” explained Evgeniy Karlov.

According to the coach, the usual division of people into “night owls” and “larks” is very arbitrary. We are all diurnal creatures, which means our body is adapted to get up with the sunrise and go to bed with the sunset. Therefore, in most cases, people who call themselves “night owls” are simply lazy to exercise in the morning. There are exceptions to this rule, but they are very rare.

Evgeny Karlov told us at what time you can eat in relation to training.

— If it’s a morning run, it’s better to eat half an hour after it.

— If you have planned a strength training session in the morning, take “fast carbohydrates” some time before it - a banana or fruit mixture, so that the body has somewhere to get energy from.

- If you have not planned your workout very early, you need a carbohydrate-rich breakfast 2-2.5 hours before it.

— A nutritious meal is taken 2.5 hours before training. If there was no opportunity to eat at this time, you need to eat something easily digestible 1.5 hours before.

- If a person is simply improving his physical fitness, he can eat within an hour after training. If he has set himself the goal of losing weight, then the longer he does not eat, the longer the fat burning process will take place.

Is it easy for you to exercise in the morning? What time do you prefer to workout?

Katya Kozhevnikova , iledebeaute.ru

Exercising before bed: weighing the pros and cons

First, let's look at the benefits of exercising before bed:

• Training improves the tone of the body and gives vigor, which makes it easy and relaxed to carry out regular evening procedures before going to bed, and perform household chores for which there was not enough time during the day.
• Physical activity increases the phase of slow (deep) sleep, and it is in this phase that a full night's rest is complete, strength is restored and the functioning of internal organs is stabilized.
• The slight fatigue that arises after the workout will increase the desire to go to bed as quickly as possible, making sleep deep and sound.
• If you regularly exercise in the afternoon, gradually waking up in the morning becomes easier and more pleasant, takes less time and does not become stressful for the body.
• Training carried out after a working day will help improve your mood, get rid of the resulting negativity, neutralize stress, put your thoughts in order and stabilize your emotional background. During sports, the brain is partially switched off, energy is directed to muscle work.
• Exercising at any time of the day helps you lose weight, burn fat, reduce the volume of problem areas of the body (abdomen, legs and buttocks), strengthen muscles and improve your figure.

Disadvantages of training before bed:

• If a person is very tired during the day from work or everyday household chores, then the training will overtire him and will not be effective. Fatigue will prevent you from giving your best and performing exercises correctly.
• If in the evening a person’s biological rhythms are rearranged so that his activity decreases, then playing sports at this time will be inappropriate.
• Normally, the human body goes into metabolic slowdown mode at night. And training speeds up metabolic processes, which disrupts the body’s natural biological rhythms.
• Physical activity before bed prevents complete relaxation, since the muscles are tense after exercise.
• Exercising before bed does not promote muscle growth. During the day, muscle fibers become overstrained, especially if a person leads an active lifestyle and is constantly on the move. And if you load them in the evening, they will again experience stress, be damaged by fibers and will not have time to recover. As a result, the muscles become exhausted and weakened, they feel sore, sometimes cramps occur, and growth is not observed.
• During sports, growth hormones, estrogens, adrenaline, insulin, thyroxine, endorphins, and glucagon are synthesized. They speed up metabolism, promote emotional uplift, charge you with vigor and energy, and give confidence and determination. These effects are useful in the first half of the day, but are inappropriate in the second, as they can interfere with the mood for relaxation and good sleep. This is fraught with insomnia, restless and shallow sleep, frequent awakenings, and twitching of the limbs.

Exercising before bed affects men and women differently, due to differences in lifestyle and hormonal levels. So, if a male representative works physically and gets tired during the day, then evening exercise will be harmful for him. But they increase the level of the main male hormone testosterone, which affects reproductive functions and libido.

Many women are less active during the day, so evening workouts will be beneficial and help you lose weight. But excessive loads can disrupt hormonal levels and cause disruptions in the menstrual cycle.

Important! It is contraindicated for a child to exercise at night: due to overwork, he will not be able to fall asleep and sleep soundly.

Target

What do you want to achieve from going to the gym? Everyone knows what they want, and you are no exception.

Correctly selected time for training helps to achieve faster results.

Gaining weight and burning fat are the most desired goals that are stuck in the minds of many people who decide to work on themselves and change for the better.

• Fat Burning

The human body is designed in such a way that after waking up, blood sugar levels are lowered and metabolism is accelerated.

If you exercise early in the day, fat will become the main source of energy, not carbohydrates. Therefore, you can burn much more fat in the morning than during an evening workout.

If you exercise before breakfast, your body will lose more calories than after breakfast.

But it must be said that if you exercise on an empty stomach, you will lack strength, and therefore you will quickly get tired. Therefore, do not overload your body, otherwise you will drive it into a state of stress.

Thus, morning exercise will be much more effective if you decide to lose weight. But you need to approach the training process wisely and correctly calculate the load.

Useful article: How to “cut” to burn fat, not muscle.

• Mass gain

Evening workouts help gain muscle mass and increase strength. Hormones such as testosterone and cortisol are known to have a strong effect on muscle gain. While testosterone promotes muscle growth, cortisol, on the contrary, destroys muscle fibers.

Testosterone levels after evening workouts are much higher than after morning workouts. The level of cortisol, known as the stress hormone, on the contrary, is much lower in the evening than in the morning.

Therefore, by training in the evening, you are likely to gain muscle mass much faster than by training in the morning.

Useful article: How to create a diet menu for weight loss or weight gain.

Biological rhythms and sports

A person’s physical activity depends on his biorhythms. In the morning, after waking up, all the processes occurring in the body begin to start, but this happens if a person has had a full night’s sleep and recovered. In the evening, metabolism slows down and a transition to energy-saving mode occurs, so most people feel a loss of strength and fatigue, worsening after work or everyday activities.

But biological rhythms are individual. So, for some people it is extremely difficult to get up early, but in the evening they feel a surge of energy, and there is no desire to go to bed. This category is referred to as “owls”. On the contrary, “larks” easily wake up in the morning and immediately get down to business, but in the evening they feel the need for proper rest.

It is necessary to select the time for playing sports taking into account individual biorhythms, so that the training is effective and beneficial for the health of a particular person. And some experts advise adding eight hours to the time of your birth to determine biological rhythms. This period will be productive. Also listen to your body.

Doctors' opinion

The general point of view of doctors is that the main thing in physical activity is not duration, but regularity and moderation. Experts advise starting training always at a clearly defined time. This will enable the body to be ready for stress, as well as adjust biological rhythms to a specific training schedule.

How different types of physical activity affect sleep

There are different types of physical activity, differing in intensity, zones of influence (groups of working muscles), training goals, and level of training. And all varieties have different effects on the body and sleep:

• Light exercises before bed will help relieve muscle tension, get pleasant emotions, stretch muscles, improve breathing and ensure the supply of oxygen to all internal systems of the body. Doing it is useful for osteochondrosis of the cervical and other parts of the spine, muscle atony, nervous tension, and back pain.
• Strength training: bodybuilding, push-ups, exercises with weights (barbell, dumbbells), weightlifting. You can’t swing before going to bed, as the muscles are overextended and damaged. Also, strength exercises before bed have a bad effect on sleep and provoke a feeling of weakness in the morning.
• Cardio exercises: fast running, boxing, as well as all exercises that involve high speed and intensity of the load. Such training, firstly, involves the heart muscle, and secondly, it accelerates metabolic processes. And if you try to fall asleep after class, you will not be able to because of your increased heart rate and feeling of vigor.
• Yoga is useful because it promotes complete relaxation, finding harmony, putting thoughts in order, and calming down. Exercising before bed relaxes you, helps you fall asleep faster, and makes your body flexible.

Benefits of morning workouts

It’s great when a person has the opportunity to do fitness after sleep. For those who like to exercise in the early hours of the day, jogging, race walking or cycling - everything that relates to aerobic exercises is suitable. The main thing is a successful combination of food intake and work schedule with fitness.

Positive aspects of physical activity for early risers:

• effective for combating excess weight;
• reduce the feeling of hunger;
• help combat overeating;
• tone the body;
• help you wake up faster;

It is important to know! It has been noticed that the risk of getting a sports injury during morning exercises is significantly reduced.

But some people find it difficult to exercise after sleep, even with enough time.

It is important not to deviate from your decision under any circumstances. Experts advise washing your face with cool water, drinking a cup of coffee, providing sufficient lighting, taking care of music, and finding partners to ensure joy during morning fitness.

What is the best thing to do before bed?

What to do before bed? Let's consider acceptable options:

1. Walking. The easiest option is a half-hour walk before bed in the fresh air along the street around the house or to the store. You need to walk at an average speed so as not to get tired, but to work your muscles and improve your breathing.
2. Easy running. Jogging before bed will saturate the body with oxygen, help you take your mind off business and put your thoughts in order. But you need to run not very fast and not for long (maximum 20-30 minutes).
3. Stretching. Stretching before bed will help relieve muscle tension and put them into rest mode. But don’t strain yourself and don’t strive for maximum stretching.
4. Light exercise before bed: simple abdominal exercises, lifting arms and legs from different positions, bending and turning the body, rotating the head.
5. Swim at a comfortable pace. It relaxes and does not overstrain the muscles, setting you up for sleep.
6. Yoga. Before going to bed, it is better to do simple exercises, choosing static asanas.
7. Slow cycling or exercise on a treadmill are also suitable.
8. Pilates does not overload the muscles, but gives them a moderate load and promotes weight loss.
9. Breathing exercises prevent hypoxia, help you relax and relieve stress.

How to train profitably: the best time and other points

To ensure that training does not cause harm and is effective, follow the rules:

• Right time. Doctors and athletes recommend training in the first half of the day, preferably in the morning. But our plans are adjusted by our daily routine: if you work until the evening, you can study before bed. But you should do this no later than two to three hours before falling asleep.
• Duration of classes. Evening training does not last longer than 30-40 minutes.
• Rest after class. But you don’t have to lie down and lie down; you can take a slow walk after visiting the gym (if it’s located close to home, you’ll save on transportation), and perform your usual household chores.
• Daily routine, balance between wakefulness and sleep. It is important to get plenty of rest, get enough sleep at night, and wake up at the same time every day.
• Suitable loads. The complex includes simple exercises of medium or low intensity without weights, performed not at maximum speed. Leave full pumping for the first half of the day: no need to do push-ups, lift weights, hit a punching bag or run fast. Also, the load should be selected taking into account the level of physical fitness: try to run or walk at a comfortable pace so as not to get out of breath.
• Train with an open window (or vent): a bad smell or lack of oxygen will reduce the effectiveness of the workout and cause hypoxia (oxygen starvation) and headaches.

How to relax after exercise and fall asleep faster

“I can’t sleep after my evening workout.” Such complaints are common, and if you can’t fall asleep after class, you need to follow the tips:

1. Before heading to bed, take a shower or warm bath to relieve muscle tension and relax.
2. Massage has a good relaxing effect: classical, Chinese acupressure, performed by a massager. In Chinese medicine there are points responsible for relaxation: at the base of the skull a centimeter from the spine, the depression between the index and thumb, the area between the eyebrows on the face, the temples.
3. Lie down, completely relax and listen to pleasant music.
4. If you managed to work out only late in the evening, give yourself time to go into relaxation mode: after training, the body is excited, and trying to abruptly reset it to rest is bad. Wait half an hour or an hour: drowsiness will come on its own.
5. Before you start falling asleep, create a comfortable environment: curtain the windows, turn off all electrical appliances, put away your phone and other gadgets, and abstract yourself from external stimuli. The main cause of insomnia is the irritating effect on the nervous system caused by an exciting or stressful atmosphere.

Exercise is good, but if you can only exercise before bed in the late evening, then do it wisely and safely. Good luck and useful training!