You’ve had a terrible night’s sleep, the alarm goes off and you know you’re meant to be working out. Part of you thinks a bit longer will help you feel better for the rest of the day and part of you thinks the workout will give you energy too…
So, should you prioritise sleep or exercise?
My answer is always… it depends.
The thing is, one bad night’s sleep is very different to feeling exhausted every single day, so I’d approach those two situations completely differently.
If it’s just one bad night’s sleep…
If you’ve had one rubbish night’s sleep and you’re trying to decide whether to stay in bed for another hour or get up and do your workout, I’d probably still encourage you to get up and move.
The reason is that one bad night isn’t usually enough to change everything.
In fact, for most people, you’ll probably feel much better once you’ve exercised. I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that exercise takes energy away from us, when actually it often does the opposite. It wakes us up, boosts our energy and helps us feel so much better for the rest of the day.
That’s exactly why all of our workouts are 20 minutes. They’re short enough that they feel manageable, even on those mornings when you’re tired, but they’re still long enough to make a real difference.
But what if you’re chronically sleep deprived?
This is where my answer changes.
If you’ve been struggling with your sleep for weeks, I’m much less interested in today’s workout and much more interested in why you’re so tired.
Is it perimenopause?
Is work really stressful at the moment?
Have you got young children who aren’t sleeping?
Has something changed recently that’s affecting your sleep?
I’d always want to understand what’s going on before saying whether you should prioritise sleep or exercise.
Then I’d start looking at the bigger picture of your week.
Let’s say it’s Friday. You’ve already exercised three times that week, you’ve been sleeping badly for a while and you’re debating whether to drag yourself out of bed for another workout, even though you know you could do it later that day or over the weekend instead.
In that situation, I’d probably say try and claw back some of that sleep.
The thing is, sleep is one of the foundations of our health. It’s where our bodies recover and it’s where our brains recover too. If you’ve already moved plenty that week and your body is crying out for rest, I’d listen to it.
What if it’s perimenopause?
This can make the whole situation much more difficult because sleep often feels completely out of your control.
You might wake up at three in the morning because of a hot flush, or your hormones decide now would be a brilliant time to give you a cortisol spike. Suddenly you’re lying there feeling wide awake in the middle of the night and then the alarm goes off a few hours later and you’re exhausted.
The important thing to remember is that although we can’t always control what’s waking us up, we can still control some of the habits that support better sleep.
I’d actually argue that getting into a regular exercise routine can really help here. Whether you exercise first thing in the morning or later in the day, if you can get into a consistent routine for a couple of weeks, many people find they start sleeping more deeply and wake up feeling much more refreshed.
It won’t stop every hormonal wake-up, but it can make a real difference to the quality of your sleep.
What if you’re just going through a stressful time?
This is another situation where people often stop exercising because life feels too busy.
Maybe work is really stressful for a couple of weeks. Maybe there’s lots going on at home. Maybe you feel like something has to give and exercise seems like the obvious thing to drop.
Personally, I’d do the opposite.
I’d absolutely encourage you to keep exercising through that stressful period because it’s one of the best things you can do for both your physical and mental health.
Will every workout feel amazing? Probably not.
But regular movement can help you manage stress better, improve your sleep and help you feel much more like yourself again.
So, should you choose sleep or exercise?
If it’s one bad night’s sleep, I’d probably still get up and do the workout.
If you’ve been chronically sleep deprived, you’ve already exercised a few times that week and your body genuinely needs the recovery, then I’d probably prioritise the extra sleep.
The important thing is not to make the decision based on one morning in isolation. Think about what’s caused the poor sleep, what your week has looked like so far and what your body needs most right now.
Like so many things with health and fitness, context is everything.
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