Wait, Why Are You Yawning During a Workout? 3 Pros Explain What’s Going On

Exercise is supposed to be energizing: It gets you focused on the task at hand, revs you up, and clears your mind. Your heart is thumping, you’re sweating, you’re in the zone, and then, surprisingly, you’re… yawning?

Yep, yawning during workouts happens to the best of us. And it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not working hard or you’re ready for a nap. In fact, some reasons why you yawn when you work out are actually mechanisms that keep you going strong. Keep reading for all the answers to your questions about mid-exercise yawning.

Why You Yawn When You Work Out

Before you can understand why you yawn during exercise, it helps to understand yawning more broadly. “There’s no definite explanation for yawning in general,” says Harry Stafford Jr., MD, associate director of the Duke Sports Science Institute and director of sports performance at North Carolina Central University. But there are a couple of theories about the causes of yawning that may apply to exercise.

First, an important note: Yawning during a workout is what’s called spontaneous yawning, says Andrew Gallup, PhD, a teaching professor in behavioral biology at Johns Hopkins University who has researched yawning. Spontaneous yawns aren’t triggered by seeing or hearing someone else yawn. That would be called contagious yawning, and while it’s possible you’re yawning during a cycling class because the rider next to you did, that’s not what we’ll be diving into here.

With that distinction in mind, here are a couple of possible explanations behind why you yawn so much during a workout:

1. To ‘Perk Up’ Your Brain

Yawning is common during transitions between activity and inactivity, Gallup says, so one prominent theory about why we yawn is that it “functions to promote changes in state and/or modify levels of arousal and alertness,” he says. Those changes in state include the moments right before sleeping and right after waking up when it’s very common to yawn.

“There is a theory that yawning is your body’s way of transitioning from one autonomic state to another, increasing your sympathetic response and creating a more energetic state,” says Linda N. Lee, MD, a physician and surgeon at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and an assistant professor of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery at Harvard Medical School. 

But you’re not only sleepy right before bed or just after waking up: If you’re tired, say, during an early-morning or late-night workout, you might yawn more while you exercise, Dr. Stafford says. The thinking goes that yawning due to feeling sleepy is your body’s attempt to keep you alert and energized. “Because of the activation of certain parts of the brain, yawning is thought to increase your fight-or-flight system, preparing you for physical activity,” Dr. Lee explains. 

Similarly, you might yawn more during a workout if you’re uninterested, and your brain is not aroused by the activity at hand. In other words, you’re bored, so you yawn—even if you’re in the middle of exercising, Dr. Stafford says. While there aren’t any studies investigating this (yet), it’s possible you’re verging on mental fatigue or burnout if you always do the same type of exercise (and hence, you’re yawning). 

2. To Cool Down Your Brain

There’s also something called the thermoregulatory theory of yawning, which suggests yawns counteract high brain temperatures.

“As your body heats up, opening your mouth wide allows hot air to exit and cooler air to enter,” Dr. Lee says. The movement of your jaw may also increase the flow of cooler blood to the brain and speed up the removal of warmer blood back toward the heart, Gallup says.

Studies that measure brain and body temperature as well as ambient temperature, including some Gallup has authored, show people are more likely to yawn when those temps go up and less likely to yawn when they dip. 

But weather isn’t the only thing that impacts how hot or cool you are: Exercising can also boost your temperature, which might make you more likely to yawn in response. “Exercise is going to produce heat and elevate brain and body temperature, and therefore, people sweat when they exercise, and other cooling mechanisms are going to come into play as well,” Gallup says.

The higher the intensity of your workout, the higher your body temperature will rise, Dr. Stafford adds, which might make you more likely to yawn during exercise. 

Why It’s Not About Getting More Oxygen

For a long time, a disproven theory has persisted that humans yawn to deliver more oxygen to the brain. It’s understandable, given the big gaping jaw and deep inhalation typical of a major yawn, Gallup says. But research from the 1980s found when people breathed in air with higher levels of oxygen, they weren’t any less likely to yawn. “This idea persists that [yawning] is about oxygenation, but there’s no support for it empirically,” Gallup says.

Is Yawning During a Workout Normal?

While there aren’t any hard numbers measuring just how common it is to yawn during a workout, experts say it’s absolutely normal and usually nothing to worry about. 

“There hasn’t been much research on the relationship between exercise and yawning, although it’s obvious to those that exercise regularly that yawning becomes fairly frequent,” Gallup says. And if the thermoregulatory theory of yawning—that you yawn to cool down your brain—bears out in future research, it would make intuitive sense to a lot of hot, sweaty exercisers.

Gallup theorizes that yawning might be less frequent during sustained, moderate-intensity cardio: You’re already increasing blood flow from the exercise in general, and your breathing needs to stay pretty steady to power your activity. You might not notice any yawning until you’re cooling down or resting between laps on the track or climbs on the bike.

More research is needed to fully understand this process, but Gallups suspects strength workouts might provide more opportunities to yawn because blood is flowing directly to the muscles you’re targeting and less might go to the brain.

How to Prevent Yourself from Yawning During Future Workouts

Yawning is an involuntary reflex, Dr. Stafford says, meaning you’re not choosing to yawn and you might not always be able to stop it. But there are a few strategies you can try that might make you a little less likely to get a case of the yawns mid-sweat.

1. Warm Up Properly

“Gradually increase your heart rate and body temperature to help the body transition smoothly from one autonomic state to another,” Dr. Lee says. “Start with a proper warm-up and avoid sudden intense activity.” (The Peloton App has plenty of quick warm-up routines to choose from!)

2. Get Plenty of Sleep

Easier said than done, but try to make sure you’re not tired heading into your workout, Dr. Stafford says. Being well-rested might make you less likely to yawn from sleepiness during exercise. 

Adults generally need about seven to nine hours of sleep a night. Try to follow the golden rules of good sleep hygiene: Stick to a consistent bedtime routine, including giving yourself time to wind down before bed, and make sure your bedroom is cool, dark, and quiet.

3. Mix Things Up

If you’re yawning during exercise because you’re bored with your same-old, same-old routine, it could be time to switch it up, Dr. Stafford says. For instance, if you follow the same outdoor route for your runs every morning, try switching up your course—or even try a different form of cardio like cycling, dancing, or swimming. You can also search for something new and exciting from the many options on the Peloton App.

Is It Possible to Stop All That Yawning During a Workout?

The prevention tips above can help you get ahead of your yawns, but what about when you’re in the middle of a workout and can’t stop yawning? While there isn’t exactly scientific evidence proving any of the below tips, they shouldn’t hurt to try if you’re looking for instant yawn relief mid-exercise.

1. Drink Water

While it hasn’t been studied, it’s possible that drinking cold water during your workout could help lower your overall body temperature in a way that also reduces yawning during exercise, Gallup says.

Plus, you’ll likely already be drinking H2O during your workouts, especially longer ones, so you’ll also stay hydrated and avoid overheating, Dr. Lee says.

2. Cool Down

“Some literature suggests applying ice packs over the carotid artery in your neck, but ensure the packs are not too cold to prevent skin damage,” Dr. Lee says. If you’re comfortable doing so, you might put this tip to use by wrapping a cool, damp towel around your neck while you ride or run, for example.

Theoretically, if you moved your hot outdoor workout into an air-conditioned gym, that might also help your body temperature drop to a point where you’d no longer need to yawn to deliver cool air to your brain, Dr. Stafford says.

3. Breathe Through Your Nose

Breathing through your nose, or nasal breathing, cools certain areas of the brain, Gallup says. Taking deep, repeated inhales through your nose could reduce how often you yawn during a workout. Plus, nasal breathing is generally the best way to inhale during exercise, anyway.

4. Chew Gum

The chewing motion is similar to the way your jaw extends during a yawn and may stimulate some of the same blood flow that can help cool your brain, Gallup says. In studies he’s run, chewing gum was more effective at reducing yawning than sucking on a mint, for example. If you choose to try this out, proceed with caution. You may want to skip this if you’re, say, doing a yoga class with inversions, playing a sport, or doing any type of quick or sporadic movement.

When to Talk to Your Doctor About Yawning During Workouts

A few yawns during a workout here and there isn’t something to worry much about. “Yawning during exercise can be a normal phenomenon and is not typically a cause for concern,” Dr. Lee says.

That said, there are a few red flags to watch out for. If you’re super tired and yawning a lot during the day despite getting the recommended seven to nine hours of rest each night, you could have a sleep condition like sleep apnea, she says. 

If you feel like you’re yawning constantly—during and outside of exercise—it’s worth mentioning to your doctor, Dr. Stafford adds. That’s especially true if you’re getting plenty of sleep and your yawning has become more frequent lately, Gallup adds. Excessive yawning, defined, rather vaguely, as yawning more often than you’d expect to, has been linked with a number of neurological conditions, including multiple sclerosis and epilepsy, he says. 

And if you ever experience lightheadedness, dizziness, chest tightness, or vision changes with your mid-workout yawning, bring it up with your doctor, Dr. Lee says. It could be a sign of certain heart issues, so it’s better to bring it up sooner rather than later if you’re concerned.

The Takeaway

Yawning during a workout is most likely related to the rise in temperature in your body and brain when you exercise, although there’s only limited research investigating why we yawn in general, let alone during physical activity. Warming up properly and varying your routine might help prevent yawning in the middle of a workout, while chewing gum, breathing through your nose, and drinking cold water could help stop the mid-workout yawns in their tracks. Yawning a bit is usually nothing to worry about, but talk to your doctor if your yawning is excessive even though you’re getting plenty of sleep.

This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute individualized advice. It is not intended to replace professional medical evaluation, diagnosis, or treatment. Seek the advice of your physician for questions you may have regarding your health or a medical condition. If you are having a medical emergency, call your physician or 911 immediately.