You probably know that regular exercise and physical activity are beneficial for your overall health and body. However, do you know what the best time to do your daily workout routine is?
Apparently, the time of the day plays a crucial part in getting the optimal benefits from your workout.
Even though many believe morning is the best time for this activity, we will tell you several reasons why working out before going to bed is better.
7 Benefits of Exercising Before Going to Bed
1. Reduces Stress
Doing your exercise routine before bedtime is beneficial to your mental health. It’ll boost the strength and health of your brain, thus making it better at handling stress. Also, regular physical activity will boost the production of endorphins – the “happy” neurotransmitters.
What’s more, it’ll increase the production of the neurochemical norepinephrine, responsible for the body’s coping mechanisms. In that way, your body will have an easier time facing different thoughts and emotions.
Even though exercise is not the complete solution for stress, it’ll significantly reduce it in a healthy way.
2. Clears the Mind
Along with stress relief, exercise before bedtime will help clear your mind by calming your brain and reducing your worries. Can you imagine how good will this be after a long and busy day at work?
Falling asleep with a clear mind means waking up with a clear mind. What a great way to start the day, right?
3. Releases Tension
If you spend most of your day sitting or standing, you might have a stiff back, neck, shoulders, or hips. But, working out before going to bed can help you release the tension in your body.
We recommend you focus on stretches to relieve muscle and joint tension. For example, you can do the following yoga poses cat/cow pose, bridge pose, triangle pose, and bow pose.
4. Improves Sleep Quality
Less stress means better sleep. One way to get good-quality sleep is to exercise before bedtime. This will help you fall and stay asleep for longer since your exercise routine will solve any problem with insomnia and restlessness.
However, make sure you exercise about 3 hours before you go to bed to prevent the energy boost from keeping you up at night. This is a recommendation by Performance Health.
5. Allows More Time
Not everyone can exercise in the morning due to their tight time frame. Even if you don’t go to the gym, you still have to find time to exercise at home, and that can be quite problematic if you start working early.
On the other hand, there’s no need to rush if you exercise at night. This also means less stress.
6. Improves Energy and Motivation
After a long day, many of us still have things to do. Working out will give you a boost of energy and get you motivated. You might even finally do that pile of laundry.
Exercising can improve your energy and give you the motivation to even finish some household activities like doing the pile of laundry. So, this can help anyone who’s not a morning person. The result would be relaxed mornings and a calmer start to the day.
7. Helps Prevent Unhealthy Habits
The motivation you’ll get from exercising at night can keep you away from some unhealthy habits. For example, you’ll no longer spend your entire evenings in front of the TV or laptop, or consume unnecessary calories.
Even though we focused on the benefits you’ll get by exercising at night, it doesn’t mean that it’s not good for any time of the day. Everyone is different so you can try exercising at different times of the day and see what works for you best.
Source Healthline; Image Source Cosmpolitan