Late Night Exercise Is Okay After All

We've heard for years that exercising close to bedtime is not a good idea. "You won't be able to sleep" they said. Now the experts from the  National Sleep Foundation say most people can sleep just fine after a late night work out. I already knew this to be true.

It's been my experience that a good, hard work out before bedtime actually helps me to sleep better, and I enjoy the time in bed more than when I don't work out. I have also found that the better rested I feel, the more I feel like doing exercise.

Barbara Phillips, a sleep medicine specialist at the  University of Kentucky, tells USA Today  that the idea of exercise being bad for sleep has always been based on conjecture and anecdote. She says the theory was based on the idea that the stimulation of exercise and the rise in body temperature would keep people awake. This may be true for some, but apparently is not the norm.

In a study, only 3% of late night exercisers reported having difficulty sleeping after a work out, while most people said they slept better after exercising regardless of the time or how strenuous the work out.

The key for me is to give myself about an hour or so after the work out to chill out and  relax. If I went from the gym straight to bed, it probably would take a while to get to sleep. But, having a good cooling down period seems to prepare my body for the night's sleep. It feels so good just to sit in the recliner, drink some water, and feel my body relax and recover while watching a Dick Van Dyke re-run.

So if you find that the only time in your day you can find to exercise is just before bedtime, go for it. If you find that you don't have trouble getting to sleep - and staying asleep- there's no reason not to go ahead and put in a late night workout.