Best Time for Exercise?

  • I tend to be a night owl, I'm far more alert at night, and that's when I find myself wanting to workout. What I'm worried about is will it further screw up my sleep schedule. It's been all out of whack for a week, but I don't know if that's from the exercise or because I've been sick. I have to stop myself from staying up all night and sleeping til 4 in the afternoon.
    Any advice or tips from former or current night owls would be appreciated. If it is the exercise making sleeping harder, would yoga be a better choice? (I use the wii fit to work out)
  • I am sure there's a ton of different answers for this.

    For me, I exercise 3-4 times a day, 20-30 minutes each time, the latest being 7pm. I sleep pretty good. I normally get to bed around 1:30am because my bf works 4-midnight and doesn't get home until 12:30ish. I normally wake at 9am and I feel pretty well rested for most of the day.
  • Quote: I tend to be a night owl, I'm far more alert at night, and that's when I find myself wanting to workout. What I'm worried about is will it further screw up my sleep schedule. It's been all out of whack for a week, but I don't know if that's from the exercise or because I've been sick. I have to stop myself from staying up all night and sleeping til 4 in the afternoon.
    Any advice or tips from former or current night owls would be appreciated. If it is the exercise making sleeping harder, would yoga be a better choice? (I use the wii fit to work out)

    I exercise 3 times a day (45 minutes each session) , but I make sure that I've stopped by 6:00 PM. I feel I need at least 3 - 4 hours of down time before bedtime, otherwise I am hyper and it's hard to sleep. I make sure I follow these tips:

    http://www.realage.com/StayingYoung/...ips.aspx?tip=1

    Studies prove how important 7-8 hours of sleep is on weight loss.

    I hope this helps.
  • Thanks for the responses. I will be getting to bed very soon. I am exhausted. I think I will try to work out a couple times a day like you both do. I feel so great after I exercise, I can't believe I used to hate it.
    IgetfitNStrongforme Thank you so much for that link. I found the info very useful.
  • I workout sometimes at 2am and then get to bed around 4am for my 6 hours sleep. I say 6 hours because I cannot seem to sleep beyond that no matter what time I go to bed. I cannot say that exercise has ever made me sleepier or not sleep.
    Check your own body. If exercise makes you hyper then do not do it before bedtime. If it has no impact then you can do it anytime
  • When I had first bumped up my exercise I had posted here that I was pretty frustrated by the quality of my sleep decreasing and many suggested I work out earlier. However my schedule and the gym access hours means generally I work out between 7-8pm and most days can't go at another time. However, after 3 months it seems like my body adjusted and now I get really good quality of sleep and often fall asleep before 11 pm.
  • If I go out for a run, it' usually from 10-11pm. I go to bed around midnight and it doesn't hinder my sleep.
  • I worked after midnight this morning and I slept fine, so I'll give it a go like that for a couple weeks and monitor my sleep pattern. I'm going to try some exercise in during the day as well, but as long as I get 30 minutes a day I'll consider any above that to be a bonus. My workout schedule will change come October, I'll be heading down the boyfriend's (taking my wii with me though), and I'll be doing my workouts while he is at work, so we can spend more time together when he's home.
  • It's whatever works for you really but just find a time during the day to exercise... At one point in my life I had to workout before 7pm or I would be too wired to sleep... I'm now 52 and I can workout at 8pm and it doesn't bother me anymore*I sleep very well...
  • I rather exercise in the evening, but since winter is too cold and Dark in Poland to go out running , i rather do it in the morning or afternoon.

    But is it bad for you, if you workout everyday at a different time?
  • Quote: I rather exercise in the evening, but since winter is too cold and Dark in Poland to go out running , i rather do it in the morning or afternoon.

    But is it bad for you, if you workout everyday at a different time?
    No it's not bad to workout everyday at a different time.