What kind of effect will these very light workouts have on my body?

[Kurdiern]

In the ongoing battle to get my sleep schedule to a reasonable time and combat insomnia, I've started doing some very light workouts before I go to bed. These are mainly exercises I've picked up through my life; I haven't researched or watched videos (yet) on the best workout or anything.

Currently I am 5'10 and a half and weigh 122 pounds. My diet is honestly not the best. I don't eat much, usually one big meal a day (dinner usually with snacks throughout the day) considering I wake up rather late and completely skip breakfast. Every night I will do 15 Curls w/20 pound dumbbell (One arm at a time), 10 Shoulder Presses (Like holding the dumbbell at shoulder level and raising it up and back down) one arm at a time, 10 where I hold the dumbbell behind my neck w/both hand and raise and lower it, 50 crunches, and 10 pushups.

Yes yes, feel free to say I'm a weakling and how your mother is healthier, I am fully aware of that. I quit doing my competitive sport 2 years ago and have done nothing since.

I'm not doing this to get super ripped, it's more of a way to help my body calm down before going to bed as well as of me being a bit more conscious about my health. I'm interested in gaining a much healthier and better looking body, but that's a story for another thread. As of now I'm just interested in what this will do (if anything) to my body.

[Torne]

If you did lots of sport and quit that, its normal to have problems with you sleep (my GF has the same problem). your exercises will help a little, but stamina training (jogging, sprints etc) would be more effective.

[Deleted]

From a personal point of view doing any exercising before bed in order to sleep better didn't work for me atleast. Just made my body wake up more and it was harder to fall asleep.

Exercising a few hours before bed on the other hand would most likely be better?

[Nigma]

People will always find out what feels best for them and then go for it, but I have personally found, and after having done research, you will find better results and easier resting if you do your workout (whatever it is) earlier in the day, or "your" day, rather than right before bed. It is now information ingrained into me, so I've lost the most specific examples of why this is, but it has to do with affecting your sleep cycles and how your body winds down.

I know it sounds more logical that you will be more tired after you workout and it would be easier to fall asleep, but it can end up being inconsistent and further distractions towards the end of the night can make it harder to keep it under control. Working out, be it light or heavy, is generally better if you do it as early as you can, because it will help your appetite adapt to your increased workload as it is important to refuel your body after you work it out.

As for anyone who has anything to say about the actual quantity or quality of your workout, I can attest that all it takes is persistence to see results. Three years ago, being 6'1/2" (AND THE HALF INCH COUNTS) and 155 lbs, I could hardly do a full set of 10 push-ups, squats, lunges, and sit-ups. After two weeks of being sore every single day and not giving up, I was able to do a few dozen of each. Now I can do a few dozen of each while holding 20lb weights at arms length and still have the energy to go about my day on my off days at work. Fortunately I have a heavily physically active job that keeps me primed even when I slack off a little on my workouts. And I guess not playing WoW keeps me from being too distracted to get out of the chair on my days off :P

The important thing is to just keep it up and keep moving, but if you want the optimal approach, do it as early as possible, because ultimately it will help you eat and sleep better in the long run.

[Tailz]

Coming from a professional personal trainer exercising before bed isnt the best way to go about it!
when you exercise your raising your heart beat, taking your body from a resting state to a working state which as bluewhale correctly state's just wakes you up even more!
The best time of day to exercise for your body to get the best results, is to train in the morning.
To relax yourself at night before going to sleep i'd recommend doing some light yoga/ stretches.
If you would like any help with effective/function exercises programs feel free i send me a message and i will be happy to help.

p.s your eating habits arent doing you any favours either, try to eat 3 decent meals and two healthy snacks a day!

[zorkuus]

From a personal point of view doing any exercising before bed in order to sleep better didn't work for me atleast. Just made my body wake up more and it was harder to fall asleep.

This. Don't do it. It's like drinking coffee to get sleep.

If you can find the time, try spreading your workout rutine throughout the day. A sweaty workout in the morning, a lighter one in the afternoon, and a very light one a few hours before you go to bed.

[Deleted]

Well doing a workout just before sleep won't really help because you will get the blood pumping fast along with your pulse and that will just keep you awake. The only exception is if you are extremely tired (like went for a 30km walk or 10km+ run and you are about to collapse then maybe, otherwise light workouts will just make you more awake).

Try to go all night one day and then go to bed earlier like 9 and have full 10 hour sleep or so and then after that don't stay up to late. Doing exercise does help, but it should be done during the day or at least several hours before sleep. Try doing push ups, sit ups, squats, pull ups and other things as well. The things you listed mainly works out your arms and won't really make your body tired anyway. Try youtube even, there are several fitness channels that exist that have a lot of beginner workouts made for you and take up anywhere between 10 - 30 minutes per day. If you want a better routine, you might want to do more research and have an hours workout 3-4 times a week just to have a healthy routine. It is hard the first week or two otherwise it gets easier to get into the habit.

Also try DavidsFitness on youtube. He doesn't have many videos, but the ones that are on his channel show a good variety of workouts that don't require equipment and he has a few episodes talking about which foods are healthy as well.