The relationship between the gym and sleep

There is too strong a relationship between taking regular exercise and having good quality sleep to ignore.

Tiring yourself out physically and enjoying the hormonal release and mental health benefits of exercise will absolutely make it easier for you to fall asleep in the first place, and to get a good night's rest.

Though there are plenty of options for training, and any form of exercise will help you sleep better, there are some distinct advantage to training in your nearest gym. There are plenty of gyms in Dubai, and plenty of gyms in Abu Dhabi, so this should be easy enough to do.

With this in mind, there are some things to think about when trying to maximise the benefits to your sleep of going to the gym.

How to get the best sleep through gym attendance

Cardio in the morning may mean more, better quality sleep

Your blood pressure falls as you sleep, generally by around 10-20%.

This is good for your heart, pulmonary and circulatory systems, and could well be one of the ways in which your body finds sleep so restorative.

High blood pressure during sleep is associated with poor quality sleep, with conditions such as sleep apnoea seeing no significant difference between sleeping and waking blood pressure.

There is some evidence that morning cardio is the most efficacious for lowering blood pressure overall, and for reversing the symptoms of high blood pressure.

Take a morning jog, go for a long walk before breakfast, or get to your local gym for a half hour cardio session before work to maximise blood pressure benefits and deeper sleep.

Add resistance training (at any time of day) for improved sleep, one way or another

Resistance training, such as weightlifting, calisthenics, swimming or yoga, has little impact on blood pressure in the way that cardio does. However, joining the nearest gym, and scheduling the time of day your lift can have a couple of benefits.

If you struggle to fall asleep, go for morning workouts. Those who do so often report that it’s easier to fall asleep come the night-time, as they get all the physical benefits of resistance training, without any lingering adrenaline or buzz.

Personal trainers recommend that if you wake up a lot during the night, go for an evening workout. Training in the evening has been shown to help people who otherwise struggle to stay deeply asleep all night long.

So go to your nearest gym in Dubai and start lifting those weights!

Be careful with those evening sessions

Learning how to train efficiently is in large part a process of learning how your body works best and responds to certain stimuli. This is the case for sure with the relationship between sleeping and training.

Some people may feel a five-hour buzz lighting them up after training. This is exacerbated by pre-workout supplement use, which usually contains hefty doses of caffeine and other such energy-giving ingredients. Obviously, training any time after six pm is not good for these people: the earlier they can train, the better, or they will otherwise be sitting up all night long.

Alternatively, some people either experience quite a major post-workout energy crash quite quickly, or else are lulled into a relaxed lethargy following the gym. For these people, training before work may not be best: your boss won’t thank you for turning up to work falling asleep from the gym! However, scheduling a 9pm workout is a very good idea: come bedtime, you will barely be able to keep your eyes open and will nod off very easily.

The relationship between the gyms in Dubai and your sleep is therefore very important. Yes, everybody will sleep better, deeper, with fewer interruptions by packing their days with a healthy mixture of cardio and resistance training. However, it’s also important to get the timing right: do this, and you need never struggle with sleep again.