How insomnia can hinder physical fitness

Today I have a good example to share of how insomnia can hinder physical fitness. It might seem counter intuitive that a lack of sleep or troubled sleep could affect one's fitness life. But it can.

I suppose the most evident way insomnia could hinder fitness would be in the feeling of exhaustion that can accomnpany insomnia, and the hindrance that could cause in exertion: if you're already feeling physically drained owing to sleep deficit, are you going to be able to push yourself less hard than you would were you well rested? The common-sense answer to that question appears to be affirmative; yes, you should be less capable, having not rested properly, of pushing yourself.

But the hindrance I want to write about today is of a somewhat different character. It's actually more simplistic, involving scheduling.

As my readers will be aware, I suffer from insomnia. Last night, for example, while not by any means a really bad night, was a pretty restless one. I slept a little less than one hour before I awoke. After that I was unable to get back to sleep. I finally decided to get up and walk/sit to see if that would calm down some intestinal discomfort that seemed to be interfering with sleep.

I didn't want to be up for very long because I have to leave town briefly today, so I laid back down at around 2 A.M. I had already begun to doubt at that point whether I'd be in a condition to get up at 6 A.M.: you see, since I would be missing my stationary bike session this evening owing to the trip I'm taking, I had hoped I might get up early and do that session in the morning.

Well, I was not in a condition to arise at 6 A.M., so I missed doing the stationary bike session I had planned. Now, fortunately in this case, I had a little extra time later in the morning before my departure. So, though I overslept the session I had planned for today, I was able to work it in a little later after I'd gotten up.

But had my schedule been tighter, I might have lost my opportunity to exercise today owing to the insomnia problem. So, there's a concrete example of how insomnia can hinder fitness.