I did a very hard dropping ride and at first had a lot of trouble falling asleep, later I woke up after 4 hrs of going to bed because I was very hot and drenched in sweat. I was not covered in any blanket and the room’s window was open therefore the room temp was not high. I could not fall back asleep until 3 hrs later when the time was close to my waking up time.
Has anyone experienced this or anything similar?
Does anyone have any tip?
Thanks!
Yup. I don’t do hard workouts in the evening for that very reason. Don’t believe there is any other solution!
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Several existing discussions.
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I have been using the Withings sleep mat for the last few weeks and my average heart rate for the nights of my workouts/rides is always higher by approximately 4-6 bpm. I’m a light sleeper anyway, so a bump in HR is definitely felt.
Edit: Forgot to mention my bike work is done in the mid-morning.
I usually nap after a race as I had to wake up super early, and by super early I mean 7AM. <_<
Since March Ive been getting up at 9 every day
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After the three hardest races in my life (12+hrs) I was awake practically all night. Exhausted, but wired. No explanation, but you’re not alone.
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Thanks a lot everyone, so apparently is a common thing, this makes me less worried, maybe eating a bit more and going to bed a bit later could help. I wonder how tour de france riders do hard ride day in day out and recover 
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I was suffering from this last week, have also pretty stressful business environment. I noticed being angry on every small thing. Sleep was declining in last three weeks around 1h. My training plan is around 6:30 h / week but with nice weather outside i also increased the time i spent on my bike outside with limited fueling.
Starting from Sunday I don’t follow calories but follow my feeling of hunger and also decided not to do above zone 3 workouts after 3-4 pm. Early to write about it but definitely my sleep is back again above 8 hours and i am feeling great (including legs)
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I get this and so does my partner.
I’m on meds which effect my hormones and get the same feeling from a week to 3 weeks post injection.
There’s a drop in hormones for both male and female after hard work outs. A hunch more than a solution.
I am glad you found a solution by reducing intensity, but to me it looks like eating by feeling hunger is not the right approach because many time I have to push myself to eat after hard workouts, precisely I have the suspicion I did not eat enough carbs after the dropping ride which is why my cortisol levels skyrocketed and had the night heat episode. This dropping ride is a weekly event so will write here if by eating more carbs and proteins post ride I sleep better
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Meh. completely normal, in my case too.
Go play some adult hockey with ice time beginning at 10pm. You’ll be off the ice by midnight but literally unable to sleep until 5am. Between that and my cycling, my family just loves my hobbies. 
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For me works two things:
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Thats pretty normal to me. I try to wrap up hard workouts / races 2-3 hours before my normal bed time. I also pop on my ice vest 30-60min before bedtime if I remember. The drop in core temp as I’m getting ready seems to help.
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My routine for evening workouts:
- I train at 6:00pm to 7:30 or 8:00 three nights a week (2 hours before planned sleep).
- Get out of my bibs right away, by 8:00 at the latest.
- Eat a full dinner to refuel by 8:30.
- Crash on the couch with feet up, watching TV and/or web surfing to wind down until 9:15.
- Hot shower, and a mild dry, with water on skin to aid in cooling core for bed at 9:15.
- In bed by 9:30 and usually asleep before 10:00.
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Like other have said… avoid hard wo close to sleep time. The body doesnt like it.
I used to play basketball until late (close to 10 pm) years ago…
I would have a very hard time falling asleep because of this.
Now my cutoff is like 4 to 5 hrs before bed.
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totally agree with the cooldown, I tink alot of pepole do hard race.wo and then straight off the bike, I like to do a long cooldown to get my heart rate right down. Then I have a long cool shower to cool my body down further. A good protein rich snack…peanut butter on corn or rice cakes, a bit of down time, read a book in bed and a short meditation. It helps, it isnt perfect, but it does help!
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I believe this is not just a temperature issue, but a stress-hormone response issue as well. The increased body temp several hours after workout is at least partially, if not mostly, a stress response, not just a “hard workout and feeling hot” response. Fueling through the full workout with carbohydrate (not just the minimum) and getting recovery protein/shake in immediately afterward helps to curb some of the negative stress response. Also general things such as getting hydrated and staying hydrated, making sure you’re rested before the workout - they all play a part.
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I also have this problem. It is a function of the total duration*intensity of the workout. Doesn’t matter if it’s z4 or z2 work, it’s just the total work/TSS. For me it is most noticeable after 10+ hour rides.
My sleep will be shallow and restless, with frequent wakening, and often weird dreams.
This symptom is also strongly correlated with having a markedly elevated HR, resting body temperature, and having night sweats.
Since those symptoms are driven by Interleukin-6, which is released by muscles in proportion to the duration/intensity of exercise, and because this type of sleep disruption is similar to how I sleep when I’m sick, I suspect that this exercise-induced sleep disturbance is mediated by IL-6. Especially given some studies show that elevated IL-6 levels promote sleep disturbance/shallow sleep.
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