Insomnia after training

ahheadlock

ahheadlock

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anyone else get this? i had a bit of a search but didn't find much, perhaps i was looking in the wrong places.

Like most people i train at night after work, and i've been having all sorts of problems with insomnia. Especially after sparring, last few times i've sparred i haven't slept a single minute, including last night (so forgive me if i've written something poorly). It's pissing me off, because i'm totally useless the next day and have to write that day off. Also I never really catch that sleep up. I notice that my body temp is quite high all night. I suspect its something to do with adrenaline. I had a hand injury for a couple weeks and stopped sparring, and started sleeping. Now that i'm doing it again - boom, insomnia has returned. I've tried all the usual things people suggest with insomnia, but no dice. I stay relaxed and everything at night, but yeah - just cant get sleep to trigger. If anyone else has had this problem - i could really use some suggestions how to beat it, it's really starting to annoy me.
 
I've had the same thing happen. For me though it is that my mind is so stuck on thinking about the training and all the technique. My mind will race sometimes on a drill or something like that in loops all night long. Just happens certain nights out of the blue though... not necessarily only after training. Advil PM works good if the insomnia hasn't started already. So, if you can take 2 of those right before you relax, it should help you drift off. (as a temporary fix of course. You don't ever want to rely on something.) This could help you get in the habit of relaxing your mind and falling asleep on nights which would normally trigger insomnia...
 
yeah i try to avoid pills, but i have tried them in the past without much luck. Usually take a tamazipan but that just ends up making me feel more like shit. it kind of gets to this point where i'm so tired that it just hurts, and then i cant sleep because my brain hurts so much haha. Been considering trying valium, take away some of the tension and anxiety - maybe that will help. but like you say, i dont want to rely on anything. ideally i'd like to find a non chemical solution. I've been trying some herbal stuff recently, but that hasn't done much either.
 
I have the same issue. I normally have to do a heavy weights workout or something to that effect afterwards in order to take my mind off of the prior exercises that get my mind running. Otherwise as you said... I may as well have written this thread myself. lol
 
If you're using pre-workout supplements theres probably alot of caffeine running through your system for quite a while afterward. Also during a workout your body temperature will rise temporarily and takes anywhere from 4-6 hours to regulate, this almost always causes me discomfort when i'm trying to sleep nighttime after an evening workout.

As for a cure of help to relieve this, you could try some relaxation techniques such as progressive relaxation, auditory training, or meditation. I'm doing a minor in human kinetics and this is actually a course i'm doing right now. Sounds stupid but i usually get an ice bath after a hard workout to help speed up the body's heat regulation and when it comes to sleeping, when i have a problem sleeping, i like to listen to some calming sounds, try out Relaxing music, sleep-aids, anxiety reduction, relaxation tools i find it great
 
N3xt_in_line said:
If you're using pre-workout supplements theres probably alot of caffeine running through your system for quite a while afterward. Also during a workout your body temperature will rise temporarily and takes anywhere from 4-6 hours to regulate, this almost always causes me discomfort when i'm trying to sleep nighttime after an evening workout.

As for a cure of help to relieve this, you could try some relaxation techniques such as progressive relaxation, auditory training, or meditation. I'm doing a minor in human kinetics and this is actually a course i'm doing right now. Sounds stupid but i usually get an ice bath after a hard workout to help speed up the body's heat regulation and when it comes to sleeping, when i have a problem sleeping, i like to listen to some calming sounds, try out Relaxing music, sleep-aids, anxiety reduction, relaxation tools i find it great
Click to expand...

i might try some of those mp3's thanks. I've cut the caffeine out of my life in an attempt to sort this, dont really mess with supplements or anything like that. Still have a way to go with eliminating sugary foods, so that may also be a contributing cause.
 
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Yeah i get this, i think its excitement
its pretty stimulating trying to dodge kicks and punches all night
 
I've had issues with that in the past. Get my mind stuck on training and can't sleep well as a result. Getting good and high off of THC has helped a lot.
 
I find a good easy reading book and a bath helps. Make sure the book is nothing really intense and have the bath nice and cool.
 
I feel the same if i have sex just before sleep.. But i never felt this from training. Maybe its because of high blood pressure ??
 
Actually, I have insomnia UNLESS I train that afternoon. I don't know what's wrong with y'all.
 
All of these are good logical possibilities... Insomnia happens to a ton of people for a ton of different reasons. There are tons of different approaches you can take to finding the solution that is best for you. I was having a terrible one month stint of it last month and found that using the same breathing techniques as meditation would really help slow my mind down and get me relaxed. If you aren't opposed to weed, then a good indica (NOT SATIVA. if you don't know the difference google it) will really do the trick for relaxing you without pills or man made chemicals.
 
Insomnia is too strong a word for what I have, but when I train I sometimes have trouble sleeping normally and will lie in bed for a couple hours before I fall asleep (which is very odd for me, normally I can fall asleep anytime I want, day or night). It's the same as a lot of you guys - my mind is thinking about training, my body feels all energized. I find that a really hot bath and a good book is very helpful, and while I know you want to stay away from chemicals, melatonin always does the trick for me. I think that's an all-natural herbal supplement, too, something that occurs in nature that has the same chemicals our body produces to make us sleepy or something like that, i'm not sure.
 
yeah melatonin is a naturally occurring chemical in the body that causes sleepiness. Another good one for that is hot milk with cocoa (not the sugary stuff, just raw cocoa). Cocoa produces seratonin which becomes melatonin. In the past that has helped me (not recently though)

hot bath tends to make it worse for me after training, as it just keeps my body temp up. i might try an ice bath though - that sounds like a good idea.

ideally training earlier would be the best bet. during the day / afternoon would be ideal i reckon. Stupid jobs :)
 
Yeah, a cool bath might work better for some people. Really hot baths relax me a lot but I can see how some might get the opposite effect.
 
Yeah, same here. But it has gotten a lot better lately for some reason. It was really a bad in the beginning. For some reason I don't get relaxed in the same way after MMA-training as after a work out with weights.
 
i used to have this but was gone when i moved my training from evening to morning
 
ahheadlock said:
anyone else get this? i had a bit of a search but didn't find much, perhaps i was looking in the wrong places.

Like most people i train at night after work, and i've been having all sorts of problems with insomnia. Especially after sparring, last few times i've sparred i haven't slept a single minute, including last night (so forgive me if i've written something poorly). It's pissing me off, because i'm totally useless the next day and have to write that day off. Also I never really catch that sleep up. I notice that my body temp is quite high all night. I suspect its something to do with adrenaline. I had a hand injury for a couple weeks and stopped sparring, and started sleeping. Now that i'm doing it again - boom, insomnia has returned. I've tried all the usual things people suggest with insomnia, but no dice. I stay relaxed and everything at night, but yeah - just cant get sleep to trigger. If anyone else has had this problem - i could really use some suggestions how to beat it, it's really starting to annoy me.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if you do this because it wasn't mentioned in the OP, but try having a cool down session mixed in with some meditation after training. Before you pack your bags up and leave the gym spend 15 minutes doing light stretches to cool down while focusing on your breathing, deep/slow inhale and exhales while doing your cool down stretch followed by 3-5 minutes of meditation just focusing on relaxing can really do wonders. Best of luck!
 
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