New study says that late-night exercise could be promising

It was earlier warned that late-night exercise could not be good as it could lead to sleeplessness. But now an increasing number of studies have shown that late night exercise does not disrupt sleep like it was previously thought. The new study has been published on February 20, 2019 in Experimental Physiology. The study saw 11 participants who actually went for it and performed high intensity cycling workouts.

Every participant had completed minute long sprints with four minutes of rest in between each. The challenge was completed in three different times on separate days , either in the morning between 6 am and 7 am, in the afternoon between 2 pm and 4pm and in the evening between 7 pm and 9 pm. Every evening, the researchers had monitored the sleep cycles of the participants and noted that there were no significant differences in how every person slept regardless of whether they exercised in the morning, afternoon or evening.

Penelope Larsen, a Ph.D student and Frank Marino, Ph.D, the head of Charles Sturt University’s School of Exercise Science had performed the research. The trial was conducted with just a small group which consisted of all-male individuals, but it opened doors to more flexibility thinking when it comes to workout times. The new findings has also gone against the conventional knowledge that late-night exercise increases the body temperature, hear rate and that intense evening workouts becomes a recipe for sleeplessness.

The research by Larsen had also cited a 2001 report from the American Academy of Sleep medicine that recommends avoiding high intensity exercise before sleep. But in recent times, the AASM has actually updated the its stance slightly. At present the agency has suggested that how exercise impacts sleep. It has recommended the insomniacs to avoid exercising aggressively before bed but added that it might be good for the good sleepers to workout before going to bed.

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