Difficulty Sleeping After A Hard Ride



I'm in the opposite team, when I ride I fall asleep very easily. At least now. I remember that when I first started doing activities like running, pilates and then, cycling I had an awful time trying to get to bed early. I believe it was the adrenaline rush after a workout. But after I got used to working out regularly at night, my body settled and now I don't feel that rush for so long (it usually goes like this: get home, eat something, pass out watching the news)

I think like, as someone else mentioned, it might be because you haven't done physical activity in a while and the adrenaline rush is keeping you awake. It'll take some time to your body to accommodate, but it will.
 
I tend to find that long duration steady state activities - like a long bike ride - stimulates my parasympathetic system which actually helps me sleep. Conversely, if I'm training high power output rides or sprint intervals (or very often mountain bike riding) I tend to get that "wired" feeling and have trouble sleeping.

Maybe you're training your "long, slow distance" work at too high an intensity and this is adversely affecting your ability to wind down at night? Just a thought...
 
I experienced a few muscle pains when riding early in January. I struggled to sleep the one evening and needed to take painkillers. That did the trick but it's something that doesn't happen often. Perhaps, I was a bit unfit after lounging around too much during the holidays.
 
You can try not to riding so near sleep.And enjoy a bubble bath with music~you will relax and easily to go to sleep
 
I thought it was because of caffeine that I consume a lot of. It is good that I came across this topic as I am also experiencing difficulty getting a decent sleep after a long ride. I usually take a hot bath and it helps in some ways.
 
Like you said it's not that hard of a ride so its not endorphins, I miss that, endorphins normally is released when you've surpassed the threshold, it's sometimes called "second wind", what you're experiencing is just a normal case of leftover adrenalin rush, usually you can feel it after a strenuous or exciting activity and you'll know if it's adrenalin if you have increased heart rate and blood pressure. Whenever I can't sleep I just take a few shots of whiskey.
 

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