If you can’t sleep after exercise, the most common cause is likely to be dehydration, which makes it difficult to lower your body temperature and also raises your heart rate – ultimately resulting in less sleep.
Can exercise cause insomnia?
Can Exercise Cause Insomnia? – In general, the answer is no. However, some people experience exercise-induced insomnia if they exercise too close to bedtime, while others have no trouble falling asleep right afterwards. For some people, exercising too late in the day can keep them up at night.
In addition to elevating your mood, the endorphin release National Library of Medicine, Biotech Information The National Center for Biotechnology Information advances science and health by providing access to biomedical and genomic information. View Source associated with exercise can energize your brain, leading some people to feel more alert.
For this reason, experts recommend avoiding exercise at least 2 hours before bed so those effects can wear off. However, the drop in body temperature that occurs after exercising can begin 30 to 90 minutes later, which may help with falling asleep. To figure out the right time for you to exercise, consider keeping a sleep diary,
What are the signs of overtraining insomnia?
Can’t Fall Asleep or Oversleeping – Too much training leads to an overstimulation of the body, which makes it difficult to fall asleep. This trouble can lead to serious sleep issues, such as oversleeping or insomnia. In addition, sleep issues can lead to depression, irritability, and agitation.
Why does exercise make you sleep less?
Is It Harmful to Exercise Before Bed? – The question of whether exercise in the hours before bedtime contributes to poor-quality sleep has been debated over time. Traditional sleep hygiene dictates that intensive exercise National Library of Medicine, Biotech Information The National Center for Biotechnology Information advances science and health by providing access to biomedical and genomic information.
Why do I want to sleep but my body wont let me?
Common psychological and medical causes of insomnia – Sometimes, insomnia only lasts a few days and goes away on its own, especially when it is tied to an obviously temporary cause, such as stress over an upcoming presentation, a painful breakup, or jet lag.
- Other times, insomnia is stubbornly persistent.
- Chronic insomnia is usually tied to an underlying mental or physical issue.
- Anxiety, stress, and depression are some of the most common causes of chronic insomnia.
- Having difficulty sleeping can also make anxiety, stress, and depression symptoms worse.
- Other common emotional and psychological causes include anger, worry, grief, bipolar disorder, and trauma.
Treating these underlying problems is essential to resolving your insomnia. Medical problems or illness. Many medical conditions and diseases can contribute to insomnia, including asthma, allergies, Parkinson’s disease, hyperthyroidism, acid reflux, kidney disease, and cancer.
Chronic pain is also a common cause of insomnia. Medications. Many prescription drugs can interfere with sleep, including antidepressants, stimulants for ADHD, corticosteroids, thyroid hormone, high blood pressure medications, and some contraceptives. Common over-the-counter culprits include cold and flu medications that contain alcohol, pain relievers that contain caffeine (Midol, Excedrin), diuretics, and slimming pills.
Sleep disorders. Insomnia is itself a sleep disorder, but it can also be a symptom of other sleep disorders, including sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, and circadian rhythm disturbances tied to jet lag or late-night shift work.
Why is it bad to sleep after 11pm?
– The study involved more than 88,000 people aged 43 to 79 who agreed to collect data on their bedtime and wake-up time over a 7-day period using an accelerometer. Participants also completed demographic, lifestyle, health, and physical assessments. Researchers then tracked the study group over a 5.7-year period for diagnoses of cardiovascular disease, such as a heart attack, heart failure, chronic ischemic heart disease, stroke, and transient ischemic attack.
25 percent higher risk of cardiovascular disease among those who fell asleep at midnight or later12 percent greater risk of cardiovascular disease for those who began sleeping between 11:00 p.m. and 11:59 p.m.24 percent increased risk of cardiovascular disease for those who fell asleep before 10:00 p.m.
The association between sleep onset and cardiovascular risk was higher among women, the researchers found. “It may be that there is a sex difference in how the endocrine system responds to a disruption in circadian rhythm,” Plans said. “Alternatively, the older age of study participants could be a confounding factor, since women’s cardiovascular risk increases post-menopause.”
Is insomnia killing my gains?
#3 Are 6 Hours of Sleep Enough to Build Muscle? – A very tiny percentage of the population can thrive on 5 or 6 hours of sleep. Most of us need at least 7.5 hrs. Though the effects of sleep deprivation become more apparent as bedtime decreases, Theoretically, you can build muscle even when you slightly reduce sleep time.
- But you’ll get less than optimal gains spending 6 hours in bed.
- This is assuming your training, rest, and diet are managed properly.
- But in reality, this is rarely the case.
- Sleep is the catalyst for everything you do training and diet-wise.
- Going from 8 hrs to 6 hrs can be devastating if your diet is already bad.
But if your training and eating habits are optimal, two extra hours of sleep will have a great positive impact. Sleeping 5 hrs or less will certainly impact gym performance, You’re also likely to start losing your gains. Even if you’re taking care of all other fitness variables.
What are 2 psychological signs of overtraining?
4. Discussion – We developed an overtraining mouse model by subjecting mice to exhaustive treadmill exercise every day for 8 weeks; we observed a significant reduction in endurance performance compared with mice in the sedentary and the regular exercise groups.
Furthermore, our results demonstrated that overtraining could cause deleterious physiological and psychological effects in the current established mouse model. The overtraining syndrome in the exhaustive exercise group significantly affected the growth curve, inflammation, exercise energy metabolism, and behaviors; these changes can also be observed in athletes.
The alterations from weeks 0 to 8 for low food intake and body weight gain observed in mice subjected to overtraining agree with previous studies, Overtraining induces transitory inflammation, which may cause reduced food intake and body weight gain in overtrained mice,
Excessive training can inhibit the appetite, which affects the maintenance of proper blood glucose levels for specific organs, for example, the brain, Accordingly, the observed decrease in body weight may be due to hypermetabolism and proteolysis as a result of high training loads and insufficient recovery periods,
To elucidate whether overtraining was associated with disturbed metabolic function, we performed OGTT at the end of the study. Our findings revealed that the regular exercise group had better glucose control than both the control and exhaustive exercise groups, supporting the notion that regular exercise can improve glucose tolerance.
- Regular exercise is known to be associated with improved glucose tolerance, as well as insulin sensitivity, and hemoglobin A1c while muscle contraction stimulates glucose transport by insulin-independent mechanisms,
- The adaptation of regular exercise may facilitate a fairly rapid rate of glucose uptake by the tissues, mainly muscle, resulting in normal or improved glucose tolerance even with low insulin levels,
Therefore, after regular exercise with appropriate intensity and duration, the body could handle the exercise stress, and, consequently, adaptation occurred. This adaptive effect may regulate the health beneficial effects, Glucose homeostasis is regulated by the liver, which maintains the uptake and storage of glucose through glycogenesis as well as its release through glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis,
The liver may play a key role in maintaining glucose homeostasis in the glucose transporter protein of the skeletal muscle in knockout mice, and glucose is partially shifted to the liver in rodents with skeletal muscle deletion of the glucose transporter protein, Excessive training may impair the insulin signaling pathway in skeletal muscle without significant changes in the insulin tolerance test,
Taken together, these results reinforce the ideas that overtraining may be associated with glucose intolerance, the liver may act as a compensatory organ for glucose homeostasis and improve major proteins involved in hepatic insulin signaling, which induces hepatic glycogen accumulation,
- Correspondingly, our results revealed a significant increase in hepatic glycogen in the exhaustive exercise group, along with a decrease in muscle glycogen.
- Glycogen rapidly provides muscle cells with ATP, which display a high and rapidly shifting energy turnover in skeletal muscle,
- The quantity of muscle glycogen storage can directly affect exercise performance and is altered depending on the exercise intensity,
Repeated intense training could lead to delayed glycogen re-synthesis, The glycogen hypothesis of overtraining syndrome states that exercise-induced muscle glycogen depletion is linked to decreased performance, Accordingly, in the current study, muscle glycogen content was significantly lower in the exhaustive training group than in the other groups.
Levels of fatigue-related parameters, including lactate, ammonia, LDH, and muscle damage enzymes such as CK, increased in the exhaustive exercise group. Moreover, impairment of muscle glycogen restoration, another detrimental effect of exercise-induced muscle damage, is indicated by elevated plasma levels of CK and LDH,
These findings correspond to previous studies that increased LDH and CPK levels are attributed to exercise-induced muscle fiber damage, leading to muscle pain and fatigue, which can result in reduced performance and exercise-related injuries, The exhaustive exercise may also cause oxidative stress and tissue damage.
Citrate synthase, a vital enzyme in aerobic oxidation, was observed to be decreased in overtrained rats, making them more susceptible to oxidative stress, Elevated lactate levels can reduce blood pH in terms of various physiological and biochemical side effects including glycolysis, as well as phosphofructokinase and calcium ion release from muscular contraction,
Therefore, high energy demand during exercise may activate anaerobic glycolysis, which results in increased lactate levels and eventually a decline in exercise performance, as was observed in our treadmill overtraining model. LDH is a specific enzyme found in red blood cells and muscle cells that can be used to evaluate the energy system under a variety of exercise conditions.
- It characterizes the degree of exercise intensity, muscle stiffness, fatigue recovery, and adaptation of metabolic function during energy metabolism, as well as excessive training and histological damage analysis,
- High-intensity exercise damages the muscle cells, and cell permeability is increased, leading to LDH release and high blood LDH levels.
The muscles are overloaded and influenced by tissue necrosis or cell membrane destruction, which increases blood LDH and CK concentrations. These biomarkers, lactate, CK, ammonia, inflammation cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-α), leukocyte, and oxidative stress were considered as part of the peripheral fatigue indexes to evaluate the physiological status during exercise,
- The overtraining syndrome could be caused by not only fatigue accumulation but also other several factors, including psychological and/or social stressors and physiologic stress.
- Thus, we found the exhaustive exercise group with overtraining syndrome could also be observed by the significantly elevated peripheral fatigue biomarker and psychological behaviors in the current results.
CBC analysis revealed higher neutrophil and monocyte counts and a lower lymphocyte count in the exhaustive exercise group than in the sedentary and regular exercise groups, which may be due to the inflammatory response induced by tissue injury; these results were consistent with the hematologic parameter changes observed in runners after a marathon,
- Our findings also agree with studies reporting that following prolonged or intense exercise, neutrophil and monocyte counts increase, whereas the lymphocyte count decreases, which causes an “open window” of immunodepression in long-distance runners and healthy adults,
- Increased NLR may be a potential immune-inflammation marker for approaching overtraining,
Moreover, considering exercise-induced thrombocytosis, PLR might be a useful addition or alternative to NLR, as shown by increases in both markers following acute exercise in both healthy and diseased populations, Intriguingly, PLR values were changed more extremely by high-intensity exercise with values approximately twice those at rest,
- One explanation for this might be the increase in platelets, mobilized by high intensity exercise, into the peripheral circulation,
- The combination of decreased lymphocytes and increased neutrophils, monocytes, and platelets supports the theory that a compromised immune system underlies the pathophysiology of overtraining syndrome and related conditions, rendering mice susceptible to infection,
Furthermore, overtraining causes tissue injury and the release of trauma-related cytokines, which activate circulating neutrophils and monocytes to produce the inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6, Previous studies from rodents support the connection between inflammatory cytokines and overtraining syndrome.
A study showed that overtraining, induced in rats by subjecting them to 11 weeks of motorized treadmill running, led to reduced physical performance along with increased TNF-α and IL-6 levels as compared to sedentary control and moderately trained control groups, Similarly, the increased TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 levels were also found in male C57BL/6 mice after an eight-week excessive treadmill exercise and in male Wistar rats after an 11-week excessive exercise,
The results in rodents support the idea that an imbalance between overload and recovery increases serum TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 levels immediately after the overtraining period, Several causes may underlie the decreased immune function associated with overtraining,
- One mechanism may simply be the cumulative effects of repeated bouts of exhausting exercise with the resultant elevation of stress hormones (mainly glucocorticoids), leading to temporary immunosuppression,
- In addition, complement activation occurs during exercise; a reduction in serum complement concentration with repeated bouts of exercise, especially when accompanied by muscle damage, could also contribute to reduced nonspecific immunity,
Upregulation of proinflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β signaling, disrupts tight junction proteins, resulting in enhanced intestinal permeability and downregulation of the expression of the tight junction protein ZO-1, which is consistent with our finding that ZO-1 expression in the exhaustive exercise group was significantly lower than that in the sedentary and regular exercise groups.
ZO-1 and Claudin-1 are vital tight junction proteins that form the tight junction seal, whereas Occludin helps maintain the tight junction complex, Increased intestinal permeability allows endotoxins to enter the bloodstream, which can trigger local and systemic inflammatory responses, Another perspective is that prolonged running may disrupt tight junction proteins through increased heat production in the intestinal wall coupled with ischemia/reperfusion stress,
Together, these findings suggest an inflammatory status leading to increased susceptibility to infections after overtraining. Overtraining can also have negative effects on athletes’ mental health, such as increased depression, low motivation, anger, and eating disorders.
- It causes burnout in up to 10% of athletes, manifesting as impaired mood, low self-esteem, loss of confidence, and depression,
- Behavioral and psychological changes in overtraining syndromes may result from inflammation cytokines,
- The proinflammatory IL-1β and TNF-α cytokines could also interfere with the brain and lead to decreased appetite, sleep disturbance, and depression,
These support our behavioral results that the exhaustive exercise group may develop psychological symptoms, such as anxiety. Of several possible mechanisms, we proposed that the microbiota may play critical roles during overtraining through energy metabolism regulation, physiological regulation, and immune modulation and may even cause systemic effects.
- It may be modulated by multiple physiological axes, including the gut–brain, gut–muscle, and hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axes.
- In addition, it has been shown that high intensity exercise with acute sleep disturbance could cause the tissue injury and inflammation but not anxiety and memory decrease,
Therefore, the circadian rhythm, possibly interfered with by treadmill training, could also be an important factor for physiological and psychological effects in the onset of overtraining. However, this hypothesis needs to be further explored and verified in future clinical and animal experiments.
How many rest days a week?
The Answer? Rest One or Two Days Per Week. For the best performance and to reach your goals in the safest and most effective way possible, plan for one to two rest days per week. Olenick recommended spacing these out — take one rest day mid-week and the other on the weekend, or in between bigger workouts.
How much is too much exercise?
How can you tell if you are working out too much? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a minimum amount of exercise—150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical exercise per week, plus muscle-strengthening activities two days per week. But there’s no recommended upper limit.
Why can’t I sleep at night even when I’m tired?
– If you’re tired but can’t sleep, it may be a sign that your circadian rhythm is off. However, being tired all day and awake at night can also be caused by poor napping habits, anxiety, depression, caffeine consumption, blue light from devices, sleep disorders, and even diet.
- If you keep saying, “I’m so tired but can’t sleep!” and everyday sleep remedies don’t help, talk to a doctor.
- They can help determine the underlying problem and recommend solutions that will help you get restful sleep so you have daytime energy.
- Brittany Risher is a writer, editor, and digital strategist specializing in health and lifestyle content.
She’s written for publications including Elemental, Men’s Health, Women’s Health, and Yoga Journal.
Should I go for a run if I can’t sleep?
Should I Run If I Feel Tired? – The short answer is, yes, you can still go for a run even if you didn’t get a great night’s sleep. “There really aren’t many situations when I would recommend against a workout,” says Kutscher. “Remember that exercise itself has a positive impact on mood, energy, and sleep that can still be realized even after a poor night.” His one caveat: Don’t expect a stellar performance on that run.
“Sleep deprivation suppresses aerobic activity, slows reaction time, impairs concentration and judgment, decreases heart rate variability and growth hormone, increases cortisol and blood sugar, and decreases immune function,” he says. Yep, poor sleep can increase your risk of illness and potentially injury.
And according to an article in, research suggests that sleep deprivation can inhibit performance in endurance athletes. Muscle glycogen stores (the energy your muscles use during exercise) have also been found to be decreased in sleep deprived individuals.
Hormones are also affected when you don’t get enough sleep, and those hormones can affect your training, like the growth hormone, which regulates muscle growth and is secreted while we sleep. “Sleep deprivation from multiple nights will totally crush your growth hormone responses and will definitely change your sleep-wake cycle,” said exercise medicine expert Jonathan Mike at a recent National Academy of Sports Medicine Conference talk about sleep science.
And, of course, you’ll likely tire more quickly and have less stamina on your run if you are sleep deprived. Experts recommend napping as a strategy to boost your energy if you’re feeling sleep deprived. Photo: Getty Images
Should I workout if I didn’t sleep well?
Editor’s Note: Seek advice from a health care provider if you have chronic sleep loss and also prior to starting a workout program. CNN — It’s the end of another long day at the office after a poor night’s sleep. As usual, you’re exhausted, yet you want to stop at the gym on the way home to get the exercise you need to stay healthy.
Should you work out when you are suffering from chronic sleep loss? This conundrum is a widespread problem, considering 1 in 3 Americans are sleep deprived, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “It is definitely a bidirectional relationship, not one or the other,” said Dr. Phyllis Zee, director of the Center for Circadian and Sleep Medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
“First, there is clear data to show that regular exercise improves sleep quality — moderate exercise in the morning, afternoon or very early evening can improve deep sleep,” Zee said. Deep sleep is the healing stage in which your body repairs and restores itself.
- Also called “slow wave” sleep, it can only be achieved if your sleep quality is good, with few to no nighttime interruptions.
- Research also shows that if you sleep better, you’re more likely to be able to engage in exercise and your physical activity levels are going to be higher,” Zee said.
- So I would say that even if you have had a bad night’s sleep, you should maintain your physical activity.” To be healthy, the body needs to move through four stages of sleep several times each night.
During the first and second stages, the body starts to decrease its rhythms. Doing so prepares us for the third stage — a deep, slow-wave sleep where the body is literally restoring itself on a cellular level, fixing damage from the day’s wear and tear and consolidating memories into long-term storage.
- Rapid eye movement sleep, called REM, is the final stage in which we dream.
- Studies have shown that missing REM sleep may lead to memory deficit and poor cognitive outcomes as well as heart and other chronic diseases and an early death.
- On the flip side, years of research has found sleep, especially the deepest, most healing kind, boosts immune functioning.
Since each sleep cycle is roughly 90 minutes long, most adults need seven to eight hours of relatively uninterrupted slumber to achieve restorative sleep and be healthy, according to the CDC. Sleep debt, along with irregular sleep duration, has been linked to an increased risk of obesity, heart disease, dementia and mood disorders such as anxiety and depression.
- One night of poor sleep shouldn’t have to impact your workout routine, but chronic sleep deprivation leading to multiple days of exhaustion is another matter, experts say.
- It may not be wise to hit the gym or play a sport when you’re barely putting one foot in front of the other, said sleep specialist Dr.
Raj Dasgupta, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine. “Without sleep, your muscles can’t recover from the stress you put them through during workouts. It doesn’t do you much good to keep breaking down your muscles without giving them time to recover and grow stronger,” Dasgupta said.
In addition, you’re more likely to suffer an injury when you’re exhausted, he explained, due to slowed reaction times from your tired brain working to make decisions during the workout or sport. “Poor sleep can also affect your motivation to exercise in the first place. You might find yourself dreading your normal workouts and hating every minute in the gym, which is not good for long-term adherence to a fitness plan,” Dasgupta said.
In addition, sleep deprivation can lead you to make poor food choices, which affect your fitness and physical performance, he said. So it’s not a good idea to work out while extremely tired, but you will also sleep better and get more out of exercise if you do.
What’s the answer? Use common sense, Zee said. “If you’re not sleeping well, don’t go for that intense workout, right? Walk or do yoga instead, but certainly maintain an exercise or physical activity regimen at the regular time of the day that you normally would be doing it.” If you’re pressed for time, consider fitting in several short bouts of exercise throughout your day.
“Everything counts,” Dasgupta said. “Do anything that makes you feel happy and refreshed. This is about hitting the reset button for yourself, not doing some form of exercise because you feel obligated to.” Sign up for CNN’s Fitness, But Better newsletter series,
Why do I have no energy and all I want to do is sleep?
Why Am I Always Tired? – Let’s kick off by saying there are many reasons you might be feeling tired all the time, and some of these are underlying health problems. So, of course, if chronic fatigue is impacting your quality of life, speak to healthcare professionals to rule out anything serious. Common causes of fatigue include:
- Sleep disorders like sleep apnea and insomnia.
- Medical conditions like chronic fatigue syndrome, anemia, problems with your thyroid gland like hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid), autoimmune diseases, fibromyalgia, and mental health issues like depression and anxiety.
- Nutritional deficiencies like a vitamin B12, vitamin D, or iron deficiency.
- Medications like antidepressants, antihistamines, and high blood pressure meds can cause fatigue as a side effect.
- Illnesses — the common one these days is, of course, COVID-19. Even once you’ve recovered, tiredness can linger for much longer than other symptoms. We’ve covered how to get energy back after COVID here.
- Tiring phases of life — you might be feeling tired due to your period, pregnancy, when going through a stressful time, or when you’re overweight or going through a period of weight loss, due reducing your calories and upping your activity levels.
However, most of the time, a lack of energy is caused by two main things:
- Sleep debt
- Circadian misalignment
Sleep debt and circadian rhythm come together to form the two laws of sleep, and they’re the biggest things affecting your energy levels each day. Get these things right and you’ll not only boost how much energy you have each day, you’ll know exactly how to harness it to get the most from it.
How do you recover from rebound insomnia?
– Rebound insomnia is common after stopping taking certain sleeping pills, such as benzodiazepines and Z-drugs. Off-label sleep aids may also cause rebound insomnia. To prevent rebound insomnia, doctors suggest slowly lowering the dose of some sleep medications.