Exercise at night does not disturb sleep

[Paleoanth]

Is sleep disturbed by vigorous late-night exercise?
Youngstedt SD, Kripke DF, Elliott JA
Med Sci Sports Exerc 31(6) 864-869 (1999)Purpose: This experiment examined the influence of prolonged. Vigorous late-night exercise on sleep. Methods: Sixteen highly fit male cyclists completed each of two 60-h laboratory treatments involving a baseline night, an experimental treatment night, and a recovery night. In counterbalanced order, subjects 1) cycled for 3 h at 65-75% of heart rate reserve combined with bright light exposure (3000 lux) light, and 2) were exposed to a 3 h pulse of bright light (3000 lux) alone. Results: On the baseline and recovery nights, subjects maintained their usual sleep-wake schedules. On the treatment night, exercise + bright Light or bright light alone were centered at 6 h before their usual wake times, followed by bedtimes 30 min after the treatments, Illumination was 3000 lux during the experimental treatments, 0 lux during the sleep periods. And 50 lux at other times. Sleep was assessed with an Actillume (Ambulatory Monitoring, Inc., Ardsley, NY) wrist monitor to define sleep onset latency (SOLI, wakefulness after sleep onset (WASO), and total sleep time. Subjective assessments of SOL, WASO, and insomnia were also gathered each morning. No significant differences in objective or subjective sleep variables were found between treatments. Conclusions: These data are inconsistent with the general opinion that vigorous exercise shortly before bedtime disturbs sleep,

Open URLs : LWW Online (http://meta.wkhealth.com/pt/pt-core/template-journal/lwwgateway/media/landingpage.htm?issn=0195-9131&volume=31&issue=6&spage=864) - EBSCO EJS (http://ejournals.ebsco.com/OpenURL.asp?Volume=31&Issue=6&SPage=864&ISSN=0195-9131) - Ingenta Connect (http://openurl.ingenta.com/content?genre=article&issn=0195-9131&volume=31&issue=6&spage=864)

ID BD : 46010
ID BD PubMed (PMID) : 10378914 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10378914&dopt=Abstract)

[Equinox]

So, some time after the lastest meal of the evening is as good as early morning to get in some exercise? Plus the added benefit to the exercize from the metabolism being higher in the evening, leading to more energy for working out... hmmm interesting, thanks, Paleoanth.

[Nancy LC]

I wonder if it'd be different for people who weren't " highly fit male cyclists ".

[Paleoanth]

that is a good question. There is another study that shows late exercise does interfere with melatonin.

Physical exercise at night blunts the nocturnal increase of plasma melatonin levels in healthy humans.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2273939&dopt=Abstract

Monteleone P, Maj M, Fusco M, Orazzo C, Kemali D.

Institute of Medical Psychology and Psychiatry, 1st Medical School, University of Naples, Italy.

The effects of physical exercise on nighttime melatonin secretion have never been investigated in humans. For this purpose, plasma melatonin levels were measured at different times during the day and the night in seven healthy men (aged 26-33 yrs), both in resting condition and before and after a physical exercise performed between 10.40 and 11.00 p.m.. The exercise consisted in bicycling on a bicycle ergometer at 50% of the personal maximal work capacity (MWC) for 10 min, followed by other 10 min of bicycling at 80% of the MWC. The results clearly showed that physical stress at night significantly blunts the nocturnal increase in plasma melatonin levels (group X time interaction: p less than 0.00001; two-way ANOVA with repeated measures). These findings, taken together with the data of the literature, suggest that the response of the pineal gland to provocative stimuli may depend on its level of activity when the stimulus is applied.

[ValerieL]

I know that for me, morning exercise just isn't going to happen, I'm not a morning person. And my fiancee doesn't like to work out too soon after eating dinner, so by default, we have started going for our runs at about 10pm most nights. Our normal bedtime is about midnight, and the late night runs don't really seem to mess with that, we still go to bed about midnight or 12:30am. It hasn't seemed to have made any difference in my sleeping patterns.

Val

[jazzfan]

I've been putting in 30 minutes of cardio every night at about 10-10:30pm for the last couple of weeks or so, with no sleep problems whatsoever. If anything, I sleep better!

[kebaldwin]

I work out at about 9 to 10 pm (usually watching South Park) and then go to bed about 15 to 30 minutes later.

I searched and searched for a work out program and found one that allows me to workout anytime, anywhere, no equipment, in front of the tv.

[Paleoanth]

I searched and searched for a work out program and found one that allows me to workout anytime, anywhere, no equipment, in front of the tv.

Share! Please.

[Equinox]

Is it Pilates?

[Scars]

I think that too much focus is placed on the minutiae. Exercise should take place when it works best for you. For some, it doesn't effect sleep, for others it does. It would take a whole lot to convince me to change the time of day I exercise (a time of day that works for me).

[Meg_S]

I find it difficult to sleep for at least 3-4 hours after a HIIT workout if it is in the evening - which is when my strength and performance is best. For some reason working out very early in the morning makes me very sleepy though and I want to nap afterward.

[shopgirl28]

I know for me that when I do rigorous cardio at night, like 3 hours before bed, I have horrible sleep and it takes probably an extra hour to actually fall asleep.

[kebaldwin]

I do this:

http://www.bronzebowpublishing.com/store/index.php?main_page=pubs_product_book_info&products_id=2&zenid=b78e7f506505294ae1f7f9058bebf44e

there is another version for women

It's known as "natural strength" training where all you use is your body. No equipment. YOu can do it anytime & anywhere. In fact most exercises can be done in a minute or so, so you could even do one or two here, one or two there, (like 2 every commercial or a couple every work break) and next thing you know -- you are done working out.

[Angeline]

Does it produce results though?

[kebaldwin]

I'm not trying to be a smart a$$ but That would depend on what your goals are.

The men's program does build muscle - which is my goal. My whole body feels better after working out -- which is another goal for my exercise program.

If you are trying to lean out and not build muscles -- then I would think you would eat less amino acids and protein and do more just pure cardio.

It is a combination of Callisthenics, isometrics, stretching and other exercises.

I don't know how they modify the women's program. But the books are like $35. No getting ready for a gym, driving to/from the gym, waiting at the gym, monthly fees at the gym, etc.

The men's edition is very highly rated on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1932458018/ref=pd_sim_b_2/102-2933746-2461708?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155

I would recommend the spiral edition instead of the bound edition.

[Angeline]

You weren't being a smart a$$. That's a totally fair question :)

My goals would be to build strength and flexibility; two things which have been in sharp decline ever since I've hit my 40's.

Also, I don't like excercise, and going to the gym is rather complicated for me. I guess I'm looking for a miracle :)

But as the years go by, I am feeling my age and that's just wrong for someone who isn't 45 yet. If I feel this old now, what will it be when I reach 50, or 60 ? It doesn't bear thinking. So I need to do something.

[kebaldwin]

If you don't want to do the gym (I don't) then I would recommend buying the men's and women's book. Some of the men's exercises are hard - like push-ups. When I started I could only do a few push ups. After a year I can do 100 per day (the book says I should be able to do 500 after six months -- but I don't think they took into account how fat I was).

Women have a tough time doing regular push ups so perhaps the women's book will show you how to do modified push-ups until you build up some strength and can start doing the regular exercises.

There are probably 100 exercises. Many can be done in one minute at work. Your co workers may look at you funny - but mine do already - so what is one more reason?

You won't see results over night - but over a year - definitely. If you knock yourself out doing the exercises then you will see more results. But you have to do two things - build muscle and lose fat. You can have all the muscle you want - but if your body fat is above about 15% no one can tell because the fat is covering up all your muscle.

Last, I think that walking is way under rated. And it is easy to do. Take the stairs, park in the last parking spot, take your breaks and walk around the building, etc

[Dodger]

You weren't being a smart a$$. That's a totally fair question :)

My goals would be to build strength and flexibility; two things which have been in sharp decline ever since I've hit my 40's.

Also, I don't like excercise, and going to the gym is rather complicated for me. I guess I'm looking for a miracle :)

But as the years go by, I am feeling my age and that's just wrong for someone who isn't 45 yet. If I feel this old now, what will it be when I reach 50, or 60 ? It doesn't bear thinking. So I need to do something.No one can stick to an 'exercise' program for long if they are doing something that they don't enjoy. Almost everyone has activities that they enjoy that allow the body to move. Think of what you do enjoy doing and find ways to do that activity for longer periods of time and more often.

[Nancy LC]

For me the fun part of going to the gym is seeing my improvement and also it seems to be helping my arthritis.