How to Exercise at Night and Still Fall Asleep
One of the biggest problems that many gym-goers face is the fact that they can only fit in a workout at night due to their crazy schedule. While it’s great that they can plan their workouts to ensure they don’t miss them, a common complaint is that if they exercise at night they cannot fall asleep. Generally, this is due to a pre-workout product that is taken prior to their workout. The craze right now with pre-workouts on the market is how insane of a stimulant combination can be put into one product without blowing a gasket? Everyone seems to want a product with insane dosages of stimulants in order to get enhanced energy. But, something like this, taken late at night, will have you staring at the ceiling rather than counting sheep. So, how can you exercise at night and still be able to fall asleep?
Go black
I mean, complete and utter pitch black. When you are trying to get some quality sleep, the last thing you want is any bit of light shining into your room and illuminating the area you’re supposed to be sleeping in. Invest in some quality blinds and shades (something like blackout blinds/shades) that are extremely thick and do not allow light to penetrate. That being said, make sure you purchase the right size as well. It’s no good paying all of that money for a good set of blinds to block out the light and there are gaps to the sides or at the bottom. Take measurements of your window with you while shopping to ensure proper fit.
Keep it cool
You’re going to be warm from exercising, depending on how soon you go to bed after you exercise at night. Hopefully after you were done you hopped in the shower to get clean before getting underneath your sheets. That being said, our body tends to settle and promote relaxation when the temperature in the room is slightly cooler than normal. You can cool down your room slightly by either opening a window slightly, turning on a fan, or lowering the thermostat in your home. All of these options will yield a similar result and will lower your body temperature so you can catch some z’s.
Turn off your electronics
Listen, you’re not going to be missing anything exciting at 2am from your Facebook newsfeed. So, either turn off your electronics or put these devices on silent to keep them from buzzing and beeping all night long. If your smartphone allows it, there should be an option where you can active a “do not disturb” feature that will automatically turn off all notifications between the hours you set. This makes for a quick and simple set it and forget it fix. Also, if you exercise at night, try to keep things low-key following your workout versus blasting loud music that would get you jacked up and not allow you to relax and go to sleep.
Clear your mind
You need to de-stress in order to shut off your brain and allow yourself to fall asleep. After you exercise at night you’re all hyped up, so you need to reduce those cortisol levels in your body to wind down. Some people enjoy meditation before bed to completely release any tension they might have built up. You don’t want to take that with you into the bedroom and lay there tossing and turning all night. Others find it relaxing to take several deep-belly breaths before they lay down for the night. Doing so has the ability to calm the body and can enhance your quality of sleep.
Skip the stim-heavy pre-workout (if you exercise at night)
Just because you need a pre-workout product doesn’t mean it needs to be high in stimulants like caffeine. Such products will almost certainly keep you awake at night until the effects wear off. There are plenty of products on the market that will give you a similar experience and allow you to exercise at night, but without the feeling like you’re crawling out of your skin or your heart is going to pop out of your chest. A stim-free pre-workout should be on everyone’s radar who still wants a boost when they exercise at night, but still allows you to quickly and effectively fall asleep shortly after completing your grueling workout.
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