Welcome :) Good question.

What time of the day are you doing the workouts on the days when you can't sleep?
What is your HR in the am? Could you be overtrained?
Are you hydrated? Are you hungry?

I have general insomnia issues anyway, so I'll be curious to hear what others say, but I have found that if I train too late in the day I can have problems both getting to sleep and staying asleep. If I have more than 1 or 2 alcoholic drinks, that also messes up my sleep.

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Trying to fight gravity on a planet that insists

Well, I train at varying times during the day, yesterday finished at about 4pm. I mainly base that on what the weather and temps look like this time of year. I haven't checked my HR in the morning. That's a good idea. I will try that. I do think I am hydrated, but I thought last night that I could be hungry, so maybe that's part of it. I did have a couple of drinks last night (beer), so maybe I should try cutting that out. I am not sure about over training, although I think that's a distinct possibility. I will see what my coach says about that.

I really never have insomnia in any other setting and I LOVE my sleep which is why this is kind of bothering me. Thanks for the response. :)

OK, so based on what you said, here's what I would try:

1) Weather permitting, bump your big workouts to the a.m. if possible.
2) Cut back on the alcohol on those days.
3) Make sure you've had enough calories and water during the workout, immediately post workout and a few hours before bed. You don't have to go overboard here, just pay attention to your nutrition.
4) Try to establish what your normal resting HR is, and check in if you're having sleep troubles to make sure you're HR isn't elevated/you're not overtrained.
5) Make sure you're not taking in any stimulants late in the day--coffee, caffeinated tea, dark chocolate, etc. Though peak caffeine response is usually the first hour or two after consumption, you could still be jazzed up to 12 hours post. You probably have a pretty good handle on that though, if you're a coffee drinker.

I'll be curious to hear what your coach says, if you don't mind sharing that info.

Good luck :)

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Trying to fight gravity on a planet that insists

Thanks for the advice. I definitely need to make some changes. Here is what my coach said....

"Actually I do know quite a bit about it. That's your nervous system sending a shock through your adrenal glands.
It can be from not having enough calories or doing too many hard workouts and not being fully recovered.

First thing to do is to make sure you're recovery techniques are good.
1. Post workout recovery drink no more than 10 minutes after completion. Drink more after long hard workouts. Don't be shy at this time with calories. Your body won't hold on to these calories as fat.
2. Foam rolling and stretching more to calm down the muscles and nerves since they have been contracting hard for so long.
3. Post exercise meal with extra protein to help repair muscle damage. About 500 calories no more than one hour after long hard workouts. Again adjust calories according to length and intensity of workout.

From here you should snack and keep yourself from feeling "hungry" as that feeling will keep your nervous system active then in the middle of the night your brain sends a signal to your adrenal glands because it thinks you're starving and you get a jolt if adrenaline (fight or flight).
Hope that makes sense. Don't let this continue for long it will have negative affect after a while".

I suffer from this as well - even without late evening training - and I've learned that tossing and turning makes it worse. I get up and go and read. It usually always help in making me sleepy but on the rare chance it doesn't, at least I've done something with the time and didn't piss off my husband with my tossing, turning and calculating that if I fall asleep RIGHT NOW I could get X hours sleep.

Ditto on cutting out anything food related - and for me, food colouring. Some people swear by hot bathes before bed - they just makes me cold but it might work for you. I also wouldn't try and "make up" sleep. When it's gone, it's gone. Sucks though as I hate the feeling of knowing you are going to be tired and cranky the next day.

I agree with your coach that you could maybe be low on caloric intake. I had a protein deficiency that was caused by over training and not eating enough for recovery. A blood test can determine if you are protein deficient. The main symptom I had for this condition was insomnia. Once I increased my food intake, I gained weight (which was a good thing at the time) and started to sleep again (properly).

Hope that helps!

I'm a personal trainer and I also work with many sports doctors and coaches. The first sign of over training is when you start to wake up between 1-3am. It's possible your body is not recovering from your workouts.
Drinking alcohol or poor diet can make this worse.
Protein and Amino Acids can increase recovery time.

"The first sign of over training is when you start to wake up between 1-3am."

you coach people in their 50s? we all wake up between 1 and 3am. you coach people who are self employed?

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Its just a "sign" not a diagnosis. Just something to consider.

in my experience, the cure offering the greatest efficacy for waking up at 2am is a kindle. if i took a day off for every day i woke up at 2am i would rarely take a day on ;-)

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Do you have any peer-reviewed articles to support this? I'm intrigued.


To the OP - I also have trouble sleeping after long workouts sometimes too and I do them early AM


To Slowman - OMG I didn't know you visit Womens!

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

 



http://www.nature.com/...full/icb200070a.html

This article is mostly about Over-Training Syndrome and surpassing super-compensation in training. There are a lot of articles that discuss symptoms of over-training, check out Google scholar or pro-quest.

Hiya -- Have definitely been there and know many others as well . . . think about taking a cold shower (for as long as you can stand) after your workout, or if there's a not-too-hot pool at your gym, swim for half an hour. The shower won't be pleasant but it will cool down your core, which is crucial for a good night's sleep, and may help reduce achiness the next day. Also think about magnesium supplements, which work well for me. Good luck!

http://www.yearoftrainingdangerously.blogspot.com

awesome! Thanks.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD