Exercising is always healthy for us, right? Well no, surprisingly. While getting outdoors to go for a run delivers some fresh air, encourages our heart to pump harder, and burns some excess calories, it can also create a state of sleeplessness too.
4 Possible Causes for Your Post Run Sleeplessness
If you’re having insomnia where you cannot get to sleep easily, here are four possible causes to consider.
1. Lower Calorie Count or Poor Nutrition
While we may wish to lose weight, if we cut our calories while simultaneously starting a new exercise routine, this gives your body a shock to the system. It surely doesn’t like that! Bear in mind that while your intention might be to burn off calories through healthy exercise, you still require available calories to provide the glucose to fuel your workout.
You cannot perform at your best while running on empty or if your meal plan lacks sufficient nutrients too. We’d suggest keeping your calories about the same when beginning a new fitness routine and then gradually reduce your calories after a few weeks if there are still too many.
2. Leaving It Too Late to Exercise
If you live in a state that’s hot many months of the year, it’s difficult to find a good time of the day for exercise. As well as fitting a workout into your day, you’re also looking for a cooling time slot. Often, the evening after work is chosen. This is fine, except when it’s left too late in the evening.
Jogging and especially fast running gets your adrenalin and heart pumping much faster. Running also creates Cortisol, the stress chemical, as this research from VitaMonk confirms. When you have the stress chemical in your bloodstream, trying to wind down to get to sleep doesn’t work well.
Go out to exercise at least 2-3 hours before bedtime. The more strenuous, the earlier you should be exercising.
3. Stimulant Consumption
You might like to drink caffeinated drinks before going out to exercise because it gives you a boost. Alternatively, maybe you consume electrolyte drinks that have a little added extra ingredient that’s keeping your awake which you didn’t notice before.
While drinking coffee or another caffeinated drink is sometimes helpful to keep to an exercise routine when you’re feeling a bit tired, it’s not a great habit. You should listen to your body more. When tired, go out for a walk instead of a run or skip it that day to let your body recover.
Bear in mind that caffeine can stay in your body at least 12 hours giving you ongoing stimulation. If you cannot sleep, then cut back and have a set time when you won’t consume more.
4. Dehydration
Dehydration following a run is a common cause of insomnia. The reason is that your body is crying out for more water and you’re not giving it what it needs. Your brain is almost 75 percent water and when it loses just two percent of it, your brain starts to suffer. Cognitive ability, concentration, and mindfulness decline steadily depending on the loss of H2O. If anything, this will confuse the brain when you are trying to get to sleep.
Along with the brain shrinkage that happens through dehydration, your core body temperature can also be affected. With the temperature not being eased down through water consumption and a heart rate that is elevated too, it’s no wonder getting off to sleep is hard when you are a runner.
Being a runner is usually great for your health. Just make sure that you’re taking care of your pre- and post-running routines because a strenuous run could leave you seriously depleted until you address it.
image from Pixabay
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