3 workout mistakes that are ruining your sleep

Working out before bed might seem like a no-brainer.Clear your head, expend extra energy — and collapse, feeling accomplished, for a good night’s sleep.But Dr.

Shelby Harris, a licensed clinical psychologist and behavioral sleep medicine specialist at BetterSleep, says it’s not that simple: Certain workout habits could “have a big impact” on your rest and seriously get in the way of your sleep.Later-in-the-day exercise can help or hurt quality sleep — the key is how vigorous the workout is.A study from last year that looked at four million nights of sleep found that the more strenuous the workout, the later the person fell sleep, the less they slept overall, and the more their sleep quality was disrupted.“Vigorous exercise can disrupt sleep close to bedtime because it temporarily puts the body into a more alert state,” Harris told The Post.“A demanding workout shortly before bed can make it harder for the body to wind down.”This could be a workout like high intensity interval training, hard running and intense cycling.

These all keep your body from naturally cooling down and slowing heart rate during sleep, which delays sleep overall but also disrupts the deepest stages.Cardio isn’t the enemy, Harris points out.“Intensity is what matters.

An easy jog or relaxed bike ride may affect sleep very differently than sprint intervals or an all-out class.”If you’re still breathing heavily, your heart’s racing and you feel energized 30 to 60 minutes after the workout, you may have pushed too hard she said.Those are signs the exercise was too stimulating, and in the future you should consider moving it earlier in your day.If there’s not enough time between breaking a sweat and hitting the hay, you may regret it while you’re trying to drift off into dreamland.Harris recommends at least two hours between finishing a vigorous workout and going to bed to give your body a chance to recover.Do you take supplements when you workout? You may want ...