Once upon a time, science said that working out before bed can keep you up all night thanks to your increased heart rate. Now it says that might actually be a good thing! In Finland, in a recent study, eleven volunteers rode stationary bikes three hours before bedtime until exhaustion and slept more easily and deeply than nights when they didn't. In Belguim, the same result was found during their study when nine people biked for an hour two hours before going to sleep. So the truth is, working out is working out, whether it is morning or night. No matter what, you should squeeze in cardio four times a week and strength training at least three times. No excuses! If you don't like working out in the morning, now you can fit it in at night!
If you still don't like the idea of a high intensity workout before hitting the hay, don't sweat it! Just getting twenty minutes of some form of exercise is good enough. I try to get a forty minute one, though, by doing a ten minute lower body workout and half hour of yoga. Actually, "laughing yoga" as I watch Drew Carey's Improvaganza while I do it. Laughing yoga is a major workout for your abs! Do you know how hard it is to laugh and try to keep your balance? Hard, but also really fun and, interestingly enough, relaxing! Forty minutes sound like too much? Try twenty minutes of yoga or pilates, which shouldn't raise your heartbeat so much but should exhaust you enough to get a deeper sleep. Give the new Nia a try, which is a blend of tai chi, yoga, and modern dance! It's a relaxing, tranquil workout to put your mind at ease.
No comments:
Post a Comment