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Comment by Fire-Dragon-DoL | Hacker News Reader

All these things.. I started exercising in May, my brain was working fine before and I see no difference now that I'm exercising. The improvements are my muscles (yay), my back pain is gone, and I can eat more. But that's it.

Oh and contrary to popular belief, I sleep worse when I exercise because overnight my body emits so much heat that I sweat myself (but if I don't cover myself I get woke up by cold), and the adrenaline is there and makes harder to fall asleep (even 4 hours after gym).

I still sleep better without sport. But I'm happy that backpain is gone and I can eat more, so I'm going to stick with it ;)

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I have the same problem with lack of sleep after exercising. This goes away when I exercise 5h before going to bed, at the latest. Then I'm fine.

> I have the same problem with lack of sleep after exercising.

This phenomenon is well known among runners. Apparently it's natural and nothing to be concerned about.

Not all exercise is the same when it comes to brain benefits. Moderate to hard endurance exercise makes your brain secrete BDNF. And you need to perform it at least 3 times a week for 20-30 min minimum to notice any benefits.

Strength training on the other hand does nothing for your brain.

See "Bran Rules" talk by Dr. John Medina @Google:

https://youtu.be/IK1nMQq67VI

Thanks for pointing this out! I've been only doing strength training for the last year and been wondering why I haven't felt as sharp as when I ran somewhat regularly.

As others say, you can't exercises too close to sleep time, so maybe that is the issue here.

Among runnners there is something called the two day lag rule, that if you go for a long run on Sunday then it is not Sunday night that you sleep, but instead it is Monday. Dunno why.

A quick Google gets me nothing. I would be extremely interested in any sources about the two day lag rule, even links to online discussion.

Thank you.

I'm sorry; amoung the folks I have conversations with it is well-known. I see it in myself, routinely. I can't cite a source.

Thank you. I will see what I can find. It's extremely helpful to me to see you comment on it at all.

How long is long here?

I bet it depends on how old you are. I'm 59 and no way I would exercise after 4, for instance. But when I was younger my turn-around time was faster.

Yeah, I experience that same heat related exercise induced insomnia in the summer. Even in the summer though, I absolutely must have some blanket or something, or else I feel weird. Counter intuitively, I feel cooler wearing a shirt to bed in the summer as well, even with a blanket.

Right now though it's so cold where I live that I can just dress warm and cover up with the comforter, whilst saving money on heating.

It takes about an hour of moderate to intense cardio before the endorphins begin to kick in, and for me personally that is when the mental benefits kick in. Mood goes up, sleep improves, better focus etc. I target to have at least 2-3 sessions of an hour and a half of cardio throughout the week in order to keep my mood up.

While it may not be possible with your schedule, it sounds like you need to work out in the morning. Also, a cold shower will fix the overheating problem. Takes a while to get used to that though. I had to learn to tolerate that when I had work meetings on the same mornings I do long runs or I'd sweat through my clothes.

A tip that a sleep disorder specialist gave me years ago is to have a shower just before bed. Not too hot, and not too cold. It stabilises your body temperature apparently. Also, try sleeping with just a light linen or cotton sheet.

Disclaimer: none of this is expert advice, it just works for me, and may be worth trying!

>All these things.. I started exercising in May, my brain was working fine before and I see no difference now that I'm exercising.

Doesn't say much.

You could have had excellent physical condition, good diet, etc before you're started exercizing and be young to begin with.

Also, seems a bit silly to be dismissive just because you aren't acutely aware of changes in your body.

You also don't notice your own day-to-day cognitive decline due to environmental pollution and aging.

I don't even know how you'd be aware of, say, memory improvements unless you're quite scientific about it.

Agreed. It's very difficult and definitely a learned skill to even be able to tell why or how your body/mind feels different day to day. You always feel the big things "I feel great!" "I feel like shit." but really digging down into "I am slightly annoyed right now" or "I am frustrated and cannot focus" is more nuanced.

As I have grown older and have been fortunate enough to increase stability in my life I have had more time to focus on my own health and state of mind. Only recently have I began to realize what is going on and possible causes (dehydration, lack of sleep, overtraining, etc). This is just happening now after two years of consistent (3-6 days a week) training (brazilian jiu jitsu, rock climbing, or powerlifting)

What is your age, height, and weight?

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