Why am I sleepy after exercise instead of feeling refreshed?

Cause of drowsiness after exercise

After you finish exercising, your body should feel more refreshed and energized. However, if what you feel is the opposite - that is, you feel tired and sleepy - this is basically still normal after exercise. This is because the body has been working hard during the training. Reporting from the Livestrong page, there are several things that can cause you to feel sleepy after exercise, including:

Exercise rarely and just started exercising regularly. Your body will begin to adapt and respond as tiredness which causes you to feel sleepy a few hours later after exercising.
The blood sugar level in the body is too low.
The body is dehydrated or dehydrated.
Exercise intensity is too high that has never been done before.
Excessive exercise, or what is commonly called overtraining , will make the body easily tired which ultimately causes you to be drowsy. Even according to dr. Pauline Powers, a psychiatrist from the United States in her book Exercise Balance, states that too much exercise can increase the risk of injury, bone loss, and cause some people to suffer from eating disorders.

If you have been doing regular exercise for a long time but still feel tired and sleepy, you may have some health problems. Maybe you are at risk for anemia, hormonal problems, and problems with your metabolic system that make you often feel tired and sleepy after exercising.

Also, try to check how many hours you sleep each night. The reason is, lack of sleep can also cause you to experience this. The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7-9 hours of sleep for adults, to prevent you from feeling tired and sleepy after exercise.

So, what can be done to overcome this?

To overcome this, it's good to do regular exercise. Because tiredness, which can eventually cause drowsiness, will fade if the body has managed to adjust to and is accustomed to sports training. Over time, exercise can increase your energy level, not reduce it.

A study from The University of Georgia Research Magazine said that exercise that is done regularly can increase energy significantly in fighting fatigue. In fact, people who suffer from health problems may experience increased energy when exercising regularly.

In addition, pay attention to always replenishing your body's energy before starting a sports session with pre-workout foods and consuming enough fluids. The goal is to stabilize blood sugar levels so as to prevent the body from experiencing fatigue. Eat foods high in carbohydrates, adequate protein, and low in fat approximately 3 hours before exercising.

If all of this has been done but you are still always sleepy after exercise, check your health and consult your doctor. Your doctor can provide the right diagnosis as well as a guide or treatment to solve your problem.

As it turns out, sleep and exercise are closely related

According to Alon Avidan, a professor of neurology and director of UCLA Sleep Disorders Center, actually exercise that is done regularly is good for improving sleep quality. This is also reinforced by research which states that people who suffer from insomnia begin to sleep soundly after 4 months of regular exercise.

If you want good quality sleep, at least do regular exercise 3-4 times a week with a duration of 30 minutes. This is much better than if you exercise once a week for 2 hours. The reason is, when you do regular exercise, the feeling of heat in the body will increase and gradually cool down for several hours after the activity is complete.

When the drop in body temperature reaches a steady level, the brain will receive signals that cause the body to feel sleepy and need sleep. After waking up, you will feel refreshed.