Running before bed – is it a good idea? Find out!

Working from early morning until late afternoon consumes the lives of many people. After work, you still have to make dinner, run all the errands, and relax. Where is the time for training? Some people run in the morning before they even get dressed in their corporate clothes. However, not everyone likes it. Some choose the evening to run. 

Is running before bed a good thing? In this article, I will answer this question for you. Read on and find out for yourself.

Working out before bed – how running affects sleep?

Surely you know how important sleep is in everyone’s life. It is thanks to sufficient rest that we can fulfill our duties and run 😉 Sleep is also a form of recovery after training, which is extremely important. Without it, you can get injured and be excluded from running even for a few months. 

However, how does running affect sleep? If you want your workout to be very intense, then don’t do it in the evening. Why? It’s simple, running arouses you, so after a long and intense workout, you may be rolling from side to side in bed and won’t be able to fall asleep. In the morning you will be tired and without energy. 

The meal you eat after a workout also contributes to your sleep problem. If you don’t put in the right elements, the food will additionally make your body energetic and it will be even harder to want to fall asleep and finally rest after a long day. 

Therefore, in the evening, do a light workout before going to bed. Your body will start to secrete the happiness hormone serotonin and this will help you relax and calm down. The stress that has accumulated throughout the day will disappear. So if you need to train in the evening, before going to bed, don’t give 120% into the training, but choose an easy run. 

To sum up this section: an intense and body-exhausting run will make it harder to fall asleep, and a light run will make it easier. You are probably flabbergasted by this information, you thought it was the other way around! Surprise! 

Running in the evening vs. preparing for competitions 

When you are preparing for a competition, it is often necessary to train intensively: choose different places to train, and use intervals. Therefore, if you want to prepare well for an upcoming competition, choose a different time of day, and not before bedtime itself. 

As you already know from the previous part of the article, intensive training can lead to you not getting enough sleep from the excess adrenaline, excitement, and energy. 

Running before bed – training efficiency 

It turns out that the best times to run are morning and afternoon. I know that I can write here about what time is best, but you may not be free at this time to go for a run. Everyone has different jobs and responsibilities. 

This is why now I will show you how effective evening training is. 

The evening is the time when most people want to relax. After a long day, you are tired from all your responsibilities. Therefore, you don’t have enough energy and strength to run well. Even a good meal before a workout won’t get the job done and won’t give you enough energy. Fatigue can also translate into poor running technique. 

“After all, fatigue can be easily counteracted with coffee or an energizer.”

About whether it’s worth drinking an energizer before running, you can find more information HERE. And when it comes to coffee and energy drinks before running before you go to bed, I have to say a definite no. These caffeinated beverages will stimulate you for the duration of your workout, but afterward, you may have trouble falling asleep. The same goes for pre-workout and other stimulants that dull fatigue. 

However, some people do not have intense days, they can lounge on the couch (I envy them). Then throughout the day, they have nowhere to use their energy. Therefore, running before bed will be ideal to unload, and with less energy, it will be easier to fall asleep in a comfortable and soft bed. 

Eating after workout at night vs running before bed 

What you eat after training is very important. 

“After training, I don’t eat. I’m never hungry.”

Always eat after training. Your body needs building blocks and energy to recover. So don’t forget to replenish the necessary ingredients and hydrate yourself after training. 

What should a post-workout meal look like? What should it consist of? Bet on more protein than sugars. Such meals should be low in carbohydrates. Avoid foods that have a lot of fats and fiber in them. 

After eating a meal, it’s a good idea to wait another hour or so before going to bed. During this time, your glucose levels will stabilize and you will be able to go to sleep and wake up rested (if you get enough hours of sleep) in the morning. 

Working out before bed – safety tips 

When you go out running in the evening, you need to take care of your safety. When the sun sets behind the horizon, then it is difficult to see potholes or other obstacles that may appear on the road. Therefore, when choosing this time to train, equip yourself with a running light that will illuminate your path, and, thanks to it, you will be able to see the road on which you are running. Because of this, you will let others know (runners or people who are wandering along the path) that “Attention guys! I’m running here.” 

If you run in the evenings then you need to get clothes with fluorescence. They are important because they will make you visible on the road. In particular, if you run near a busy street. Then a car will already see you from a distance and avoid you. You level the risk of an accident. 

In the evenings, avoid running with headphones. Without them, you are sure to hear an oncoming car, animal, or person. This will give you a chance to escape and avoid a tragedy. If you are afraid that something or someone will attack you, you can carry pepper spray with you. You never know who you will run into during an evening workout. Better be safe than sorry. 

When it comes to the headphones you can choose bone conduction headphones. The transmission of sound vibrations to the bones of the inner ear. You can hear the sound without blocking the ear canal or inserting anything from the ear. 

For running before sleep, choose paths that are most traveled and lighted. Ideally, they should be close to where you live. What’s more, have your phone with you and turn on your GPS tracker so your friends and acquaintances know where you are running. 

Tell your household members where you are going to run – even show the exact location on a map. Just remember not to change your route. If something happens, everyone will know where to look for you if you don’t return or answer the phone for a long time. 

To run comfortably and healthily, think about buying an anti-smog mask. Very often in the evening, the air quality is much worse, especially in larger cities. Therefore, in order not to inhale polluted air, put on an anti-smog mask. 

How to more easily fall asleep after training?

As I mentioned earlier, some people may have trouble falling asleep after training. Can this be helped somehow? Yes.

• Do relaxation exercises and calm your heartbeat – try to get it back to a normal rhythm. 
• Turn on relaxing music, a podcast, or the sounds of the forest, the sea, or a river to chill. 
• Remember to hydrate after you finish your workout. 
• Take a warm shower. If you take a cold shower it will only add energy. We don’t want that. 
• Be sure to eat a meal – not eating is a stressful situation for the body, and as you know stress does not help you fall asleep.
• Keep your bedroom cool and have comfortable and soft bedding to sleep in 😉 
• Try to run at the same time to develop a routine. Then your body will know that it will soon be time for sleep. 

For whom running before bed?

1. You have no other choice and have to train in the evening – duties, work. You can only allocate your time for training in the evening. 
2. You need to de-stress. If your days are filled with responsibilities and stress then an evening run is a good opportunity to relax and finally set aside time for yourself. However, be careful that your workout is not too intense, as you may have trouble falling asleep afterward. 
3. You don’t have an intense day and a lot of energy in the evening, that’s when it’s worth unloading it while running. Evening training can be more effective than morning training. It all depends on your day. 
4. You like long training sessions. In the evenings, you most often have no more responsibilities. That’s when you can finally relax and indulge in a longer workout. 

So is running before bed good or not? It’s not entirely possible to say. However, there are more “pros” to running in the morning or afternoon. If you work out before bed, you have to be careful what you eat, and what training you do, you can’t run intensely and, above all, watch out for various dangers at night. However, it’s better than not running at all because you can’t do it in other parts of the day. Keep in mind everything you’ve read in this article, and you’ll definitely find evening running easier, and most importantly, you’ll be able to go to sleep and wake up the next day without any problems.