The alarm buzzes on your iPhone as you try and clutch the last remnants of a lacklustre night’s sleep. Why is it that you couldn’t sleep at 11pm last night, but all you want to do at 6am (when there’s that incessant buzzing beside your bed) is to slumber for another 15 minutes? Maybe if you just skip today’s morning run you can get an extra 45 minutes of shut eye!
How many times have you found yourself in this situation? And the morning run gets thrown by the wayside in favour of some extra z’s. Well according to research, you’re not doing yourself any favours after all.
Running has many benefits, and one of those is increased sleep quality. As sleep debt increases, adenosine increases, which prompts the body to produce melatonin, the sleep hormone. We all know that the body uses Adenosine TriPhosphate (ATP) during exercise, thus there is the greater response towards the sleep hormones after exercise.
So when are the best times for running to help with your sleep cycles? The short, easy answer is in the morning. When we wake up, our body is at its peak for the production of the stress hormone, cortisol. Among many roles, cortisol can aid in the body’s metabolism of glucose, and is also released for the ‘fight or flight’ response. These are two favoured conditions for a run, with the body priming the bloodstream with glucose (muscle fuel).
The extra benefit of not hitting the snooze button in the morning is that you are coming out of a circadian sleep cycle and increasing your body’s arousal rates. If you open your eyes but hit snooze and start snoring again, you may begin a new sleep cycle, which you’ll eventually be awoken from by your next alarm, and you’ll feel groggy and even more tired.
The evening run is determinant of your usual bedtime, because if your run is too close to your sleep time, your body will be in a state of arousal, while not producing the sleep hormone melatonin. The ideal time frame of exercise before sleep is upwards of three hours, as during this period your body is able to return to homeostasis, while using the benefits of exercise such as serotonin and dopamine to aid in sleep habits.
Once you are asleep, the benefits for your running regime increase dramatically. During deep sleep, your body produces extra Human Growth Hormone (HGH), which is King when it comes to muscle repair and recovery. Nerve cells that were fatigued during your exercise also repair themselves, equating to faster muscle contractions for the next bout of running.
With the running and sleep routine you now find yourself in, you’ll find that your body’s natural state and circadian rhythm will begin to sync together. This will equate to better health in the long term, and you’ll continue that positive cycle of exercise and sleep.
By Liam Bromilow.
