Avoid high intensity exercise 4 hours before sleep.
It impairs sleep and recovery according to a new study.
Study (from @WHOOP) found that late night exercise...
- Delayed sleep onset
- Shorter total sleep duration
- Lower sleep quality
- Higher resting heart rate (RHR)
- Decreased heart rate variability (HRV)
More details
• Sleep onset
Even workouts ending 6 hours before bed delayed sleep if they were high or maximal strain.
Maximal intensity at 2 hours before bed = 36-minute delay in falling asleep vs. light exercise.
• Sleep duration
Exercise within 6–2 hours of bedtime associated with shorter night sleep, the higher the intensity the shorter the sleep duration.
Max effort at 2 hours before bedtime = 22.2 minutes less sleep, on average.
• RHR + HRV
Throughout the day, higher intensity = higher RHR and lower HRV. (Indicating less nighttime recovery)
Starting at 4 hours before bedtime, all types of exercise affected recovery markers.
Highest intensity exercise effort at 2 hours before bedtime = RHR up by 3.9 bpm (6.8%), HRV down by 32.6%.
Takeaway:
You might think your 9PM training session is productive. But your nervous system disagrees, and your sleep suffers.
I've compiled a collection of valuable resources—websites, articles, videos, and tools—that have helped me on my journey to becoming a **Lifetime Athlete**. I hope you'll find them useful too.
https://t.co/jk0nny18iJ