What’s your reason – Benefits of Afternoon Exercise for the Poor Sleeper
First of all, let me give you another reason for exercising – it helps stabilise your circadian rhythm. Our internal clocks are easily disrupted. Things like seeing too much artificial light at night or not enough light in the mornings can leave our bodies a bit confused. And, it gets worse as we get older. But it’s not just sleep. Our body clock also releases proteins that dictate the cycles of the heart, kidneys, brain, and other body systems. So when that clock gets out of sync it can cause some serious health problems- namely a higher risk of diabetes, obesity, certain cancers, memory loss, mood swings and depression -eek! I don’t know about you, but I hate feeling tired, irritable, and sleepy. And I’d certainly like to avoid those other things.
.(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Happily there’s something we can do – exercise! It turns out that exercise increases the production of the proteins that help regulate the internal clock. It makes the system sturdier.
Do you like to exercise in the afternoon or the evening? Well, it turns out there might be some serious advantages to choosing the afternoon, especially for poor sleepers. Scientists aren’t sure why, but it seems that exercising in the afternoon produces even more of the body clock proteins than exercising in the morning. So, if you’re having trouble sleeping, why not try a gym session after work? Pretty soon, you’ll be sleeping like a baby… or maybe a cat:
So come on – what’s your reason?
You might also like:
- What’s your reason – exercise make you less greedy
- What’s your reason – exercise to learn a new skill
- What’s your reason – exercise to live healthier longer
- What’s your reason – exercise for your brain
- Inactivity Kills
- What’s your reason – olympic motivation
Oh and for those of you (like me) still working on resetting food routines after the holidays, here’s a great post on your body’s food clock.
you wrote that post for me, didn’t you??? Yes, I’ve been seriously thinking of concentrating on afternoons (i.e. evenings…) for exercise!!! the food clock post gave me some ideas as well…
Hope it helps!
This post totally speaks to me! Oy – now if only I could work up the will power to actually DO the exercise. I have terrible sleep and a stressful job that really messes up my body and mind. I know that I need the exercise but I have the same lame excuse that everyone else has for not doing it: no time (and I’m so darn lazy!). Thanks for all this great info.
My pleasure, hope it helps. I know what you mean about the will power. Sometimes I find if I can just get over the hump of changing into my workout clothes I can make it happen. Baby steps I guess =p
Totally! I need to go straight to the gym from work. If I come home and change first, I look at my couch, looking so comfortable with the tv beckoning. Likelihood of going at that point? Zero!
Pingback: Temptation Tuesdays « Doctorate Housewife
Pingback: Related Content: Sleep Struggles and Disorders « ADD . . . and-so-much-more
Pingback: Day 359: Fitness – EEK!!! | Blogging the 500 days to 50 years