I didn't sleep well: should I still exercise?
Finding time to work-out during the day is no doubt a good habit and nothing but good for you. Sometimes though, you wake up still tired and less energized than usual, which therefore also affects your approach to physical exercise. When that happens, should you postpone your training session to another day? No, and here’s why.
But why didn’t I sleep well? And what do I do now?
There may be several causes behind a bad night that made you sleepless: a heavy dinner, unfavorable environmental conditions, the consumption of coffee or alcohol just before or around bedtime… If you’re not in good enough shape to do your work-out, rather than skip it, we recommend that you reduce the load so that you don’t get overtired and don’t run useless risks for your body. For example, if you had a healthy jog in mid, try running a shorter distance or go for a walk. You may have had a bad night, but there still are training activities that you can engage in to ensure your body gets the right dose of exercise and wellness. These include squats and wall push-ups to work-out your legs and arms (and other parts of the body as well). Some other exercises we recommend are crunches for the abs, bridge exercises for the buttocks, and planks. With planks, hold the position for at least 30 seconds, whereas with the other exercises, repeat them in 3 sets of between 8 and 15.The sleep-performance ratio
Sleep and physical exercise quality are closely related. As we just saw, a sleepless night calls for adjustments to avoid that your next day’s training session being too heavy or the risk of getting exhausted. A regenerating sleep instead will ensure you start your morning on the right foot and that you have new energy to face your planned workout. The opposite is also holds true: a regular and healthy training schedule will make it easier to fall asleep and to recover your energy overnight, whereas studies show that people who have a sedentary lifestyle find it harder to fall asleep or at any rate sleep less on a whole. Now that you know that, try balancing the time you spend exercising and resting throughout the day: your body will thank you and you’ll sleep like a baby!
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