Working late, should I exercise at night?

Even though we know that physical exercise is essential in life, many people still have difficulty finding time to exercise when they get home in the evening after a long day of work.

Many people are too tired to exercise in the evening - Photo: WA

Is evening exercise bad for sleep?

Work piled up at the office, traffic jams, and family cooking make many people only have free time after 8pm.

All of this raises a familiar question: should we take advantage of evening exercise to stay healthy, or should we avoid it because it affects sleep and the body's biological rhythm?

First of all, there's no denying that regular exercise improves overall sleep quality.

The National Sleep Foundation says physical activity helps regulate circadian rhythms and promotes deep, restorative sleep.

Similarly, Dr. Charlene Gamaldo, medical director of the Johns Hopkins Sleep Center, asserts: "We have clear evidence that exercise helps you fall asleep faster and get better quality sleep."

However, the problem lies in the timing and intensity of the workout.

Research published in Nature Communications (2025) shows that high-intensity exercise within 3 hours of bedtime will make it difficult to fall asleep, shorten total sleep time, reduce sleep quality and negatively impact the autonomic nervous system.

It is recommended to end exercise at least 3 hours before bedtime or choose lighter exercises to avoid affecting sleep.

Not all evening exercise is bad. A review of 23 studies found that most healthy people who exercised moderately in the evening had no problems sleeping and even slept more deeply and fell asleep faster.

A 2022 medical review also confirmed that moderate exercise is unlikely to cause harm, and sometimes even improves sleep quality.

So what about someone who works late (is free after 8pm) and has had a long, tiring day?

According to advice from experts, like Dr. Sairam Parthasarathy - director of the Sleep and Circadian Rhythm Center, evening exercise is a complex topic, and depends on the body's biological characteristics.

If evening exercise is unavoidable, you should prioritize low-intensity exercises, such as relaxing yoga, slow stretching, or light walking.

These activities can help increase the hormone melatonin, reduce stress, lower blood pressure and body temperature, thereby supporting sleep.

A study in Saudi Arabia also showed that moderate to vigorous exercise lasting more than 90 minutes in the evening was associated with poor sleep quality.

How to exercise in the evening?

Conversely, light exercise, such as light weight movements every 30 minutes, has been shown to prolong sleep time and improve sleep depth.

However, the rule of ending your workout 3 hours before bedtime still holds true. Practitioners are therefore faced with a difficult problem: scheduling their time.

Except for people with different biological rhythms, most people should exercise in the morning if they come home late from work - Photo: HT

This depends on your circadian rhythm and your individual circumstances. Research on chronotypes has shown that there are people who tend to exercise most vigorously in the evening.

Specifically, according to the classification of American clinical psychologist Michael Breus, the type of person represented by dolphins is usually very healthy around evening, and should go to bed late at around 11:30 pm.

If you do have such a circadian rhythm, it is possible to exercise in the evening, even if you come home late from work and feel a bit tired.

Although yoga and walking are often recommended for evening exercise, people with "dolphin" circadian rhythms can still jog or even play sports like tennis in the evening.

On the contrary, experts advise that you should go to bed early and switch your workout to the early morning. This way, you will not lose sleep, but will also put your body in the most energetic and alert state when exercising, making your workout more effective.

HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/di-lam-ve-muon-co-nen-tap-luyen-buoi-toi-20250903133738243.htm