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Highly Sensitive People (HSPs): Do Sensitive Nervous Systems Struggle to “Switch Off” After Exercise?

Updated: 14 hours ago

There’s something that’s been bothering me lately. We’re taught from school onwards — by teachers, doctors, fitness experts and pretty much everyone else — that exercise is the magic pill. The more you do, the better you’ll feel. It’s good for sleep, for the brain, for mood, for everything. And for most people, that’s true.

But here’s the thing.

I come from a sporty background. Sport was my thing. I wasn’t the kid trying to get out of PE — I was the captain of the rugby team, athletics captain, fast at sprinting, always running, surfing, hitting the gym, pushing myself. I was genuinely good at sport all round. (Okay, it sounds like I’m blowing my own trumpet here — but I promise I’m making a point.)

Even back then, even at my absolute fittest, my body reacted differently to exercise.

I noticed early on that the buzz I got from sport didn’t fade like it did for everyone else. My teammates would often mention how well they slept after a big training session. Meanwhile, I’d be buzzing — overstimulated, hyperactive, completely unable to switch off. My whole system stayed on, almost electric.

Here’s a perfect example.

I went on a walking weekend in North Wales and climbed Snowdon. I’ve done loads of this stuff — Scafell Pike, Ben Nevis, and even trekked up Mount Toubkal in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco in the middle of winter. And every single time, the same thing happened: everyone else in the group would crash out that night, wiped from the day. But me? I’d lie awake until dawn — body tingling, restless, wired. Tired but wired.


My nervous system was slow to adjust, slow to settle, slow to transition into that calm “rest and digest” state.

At the time, I didn’t have language for it. I just thought I was wired weirdly.

Let’s take a look at why this might be…

Highly Sensitive People (HSPs): Do Sensitive Nervous Systems Struggle to “Switch Off” After Exercise?
Photo by Li Lin on Unsplash


The 20% With a Different Nervous System


There’s a trait known as Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) — a well-studied neurobiological sensitivity found in about 15–20% of the population. People high in SPS (often called Highly Sensitive People, or HSPs) process the world more deeply, intensely, and thoroughly than most.

This kind of wiring comes with real strengths — creativity, empathy, intuition, emotional awareness — but it also comes with a heightened response to stimulation, including:

  • louder stress signals

  • deeper processing of sensory input

  • stronger emotional reactions

  • quicker sympathetic activation (fight-or-flight)

  • slower parasympathetic recovery (rest-and-digest)

This is not a personality quirk — it’s a neurobiological phenotype.

Research shows that people high in SPS are more easily overstimulated and take longer to return to baseline after stress or sensory load. It’s not psychological. It’s measurable in the brain and autonomic nervous system.

Some studies even show that high-SPS individuals have lower heart rate variability (HRV) — a sign that their parasympathetic “brake” is weaker than average. When life hits the gas, the system revs up quickly… but then struggles to slow down again.

Sound familiar?




Why Exercise Feels “Too Much” for Some Nervous Systems

Exercise isn’t just “movement.” For a sensitive nervous system, it’s a full-blown sensory and autonomic event:

  • heart rate spikes

  • adrenaline rises

  • temperature shifts

  • vestibular stimulation

  • pain signals

  • proprioceptive load

  • emotional arousal

For most people, this is energising. For sensitive systems, it’s overwhelming.

Recent research shows:

  • High-SPS individuals prefer lighter, less intense exercise.

  • High-SPS nervous systems show higher stress reactivity and more sleep disturbance.

  • SPS is associated with lower vagally mediated HRV, meaning less parasympathetic “braking power.”

And that braking power is everything.


The Nervous System “Gear Shift” Problem

(The sympathetic → parasympathetic transition)

Here’s the core of it:

A healthy nervous system shifts smoothly between activation (sympathetic) and recovery (parasympathetic).

A sensitive nervous system shifts slowly. Sometimes very slowly.

Most people finish a workout, shower, and their body slips naturally into “rest and digest.” Their heart rate drops, cortisol settles, and they feel calm.

But in SPS — which often overlaps with traits seen in ADHD, autism, and other forms of autonomic nervous system sensitivity — the system doesn’t switch off so easily.

It stays activated.

It’s like your nervous system has a stiff gear stick: it can get into sympathetic mode quickly, but struggles to shift back into calm.

This delayed transition is measurable:

  • Lower HRV indicates reduced parasympathetic activation

  • Sensitive individuals show prolonged arousal after stimulation

  • They often have overshooting adrenaline and slower cortisol clearance

  • Their recovery time (return to baseline) is significantly longer

This explains a lifetime of:

  • being “tired but wired”

  • trouble sleeping after exercise

  • feeling overstimulated for hours or days

  • adrenaline surges after mild activity

  • never feeling properly “recovered”

And here’s the important part:

This was happening long before any illness.



When a Sensitive Nervous System Meets Chronic Stress

Now imagine a nervous system that:

  • reacts strongly

  • recovers slowly

  • and feels everything more deeply

…being pushed through:

  • intense exercise

  • life stress

  • viral infections

  • sleep disruption

  • emotional strain

  • societal pressure to “push through”

Over time, this can wear down the system’s resilience — especially when combined with a major trigger like:

  • a virus

  • trauma

  • burnout

  • physical injury

In my opinion, this is where we see many people tipping into:

  • ME/CFS

  • Fibromyalgia

  • FND

  • POTS

  • Dysautonomia

These conditions often appear “out of nowhere,” but in hindsight, the early signs were always there:

  • difficulty winding down

  • overstimulation

  • wired-but-tired after exercise

  • sleep disruption

  • emotional sensitivity

  • stress reactivity

The nervous system was sensitive all along — and eventually, it hit overload.



So What Does This Mean for You?

Understanding SPS changes the whole story.

And I’m not saying we shouldn’t exercise. Not at all. Movement is good for us — but how we move matters when we have a sensitive nervous system.

For people with SPS, those intense HIIT workouts are far more likely to push you way into the red. The robotic treadmill grind, the punishing gym circuits, the “no pain, no gain” mindset — all of that can overstimulate a system that already processes the world more deeply.

Instead, try shifting towards flow-based movement — activities with fluid motion, rhythm, variation, fun, and playfulness. These don’t slam your sympathetic nervous system; they work with it.

Think:


  • gentle strength work

  • yoga

  • Tai Chi

  • surfing

  • paddleboarding

  • walking in nature

  • playful movement

  • stretching

  • swimming

  • hiking at a relaxed pace

And here’s something most people never consider:


Your mindset during exercise matters just as much as the exercise itself.

When you have a sensitive nervous system, your body isn’t just responding to the movement — it’s responding to your internal state. If you’re exercising while stressed, angry, rushed, or emotionally overloaded, your system is already in a heightened state of arousal. Add physical intensity on top of that and you’re basically doubling the stress load — stacking it. Sensitive systems don’t compartmentalise. They add.

Your nervous system doesn’t separate “emotional stress” from “physical stress.” It just lumps everything together. So when you pile exercise on top of emotional strain, you’re essentially wiring that stress deeper into the system.

This matters far more than most people realise.


So do sensitive nervous systems struggle to switch off after exercise?

Yes. The research is clear — HSPs show prolonged sympathetic activation, slower parasympathetic recovery, and greater vulnerability to overstimulation.

But once you understand your nervous system’s thresholds, you can tailor movement that supports your wiring instead of overwhelming it.

Knowledge becomes self-regulation — and self-regulation becomes health.

📚 References & Suggested Reading

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