Lifting with lack of sleep

[livelovelaugh]

Hi, i’m having insomnia and only getting 3-4 hours of sleep a night. i’d wake up in the middle of the night and just unable to fall back asleep. Should I avoid lifting weights because of this? I read everywhere that I shouldn’t lift weights if i’m not getting 7-9 hours of sleep. But avoiding exercise would make me more depressed and feeling unfulfilled throughout the day. Would exercising be completely useless to muscle gain and health if I only had 3-4 hours sleep the night before?

 

[dubschanging]

@livelovelaugh IMO better to exercise and have little sleep than be inactive and have little sleep.

I don't know who said you shouldn't lift if you aren't getting 7-9 hours of sleep. So new parents shouldn't lift? Makes no sense.

I would keep lifting unless you think the lifting is causing the insomnia, and address the insomnia separately.

 

[showtime2507]

@livelovelaugh I would still exercise but modify intensity

 

[dlrebuck]

@livelovelaugh If its a consistent 3-4 daily, then I would still workout, but either scale back my workouts or take a little extra recovery time.

 

[trutherator]

@livelovelaugh If your sleep is consistently bad then it will severely limit your ability to recover from your workouts(greatly impact hypertrophic gain and CNS) but if it’s only 1 day the night prior you probably won’t perform as well as you would you well rested but it shouldn’t have any real impact in isolation.

 

[obamawoodhollywood]

@livelovelaugh Keep lifting and dont forget aerobic exercises. I have the same issue, not insomnia but the opposite since I suffer from sleep apnea, so even with 10 hours of sleep my sleep quality is so bad that I'm still tired all the day, especially the day after working out. I noticed that working out makes me incredibly more tired the next day, so I try to not work out 2 days in a row (and max 3 days per week). On the other hand, aerobic exercises make me feel better without the huge fatigue the next day.

You should try the most WFPB diet to cure insomnia, look at nutritionfacts.org advices if needed (for example, dont eat protein powder at night but in the morning or at noon, eat more carbohydrates with fibers at night)

 

[mississippi_yaya]

@livelovelaugh I am a fellow insomniac, and I still make a point of lifting 4-5 days per week. In reality, sleep deprivation probably does adversely impact gains, but I'm sure it's still better to lift than not.
I also hold on to hope that by physically exhausting myself, I will eventually sleep better. Hasn't happened yet but I'll keep trying.