Sleep is one of the most underrated parts of health and wellness. You can eat really well, train hard and manage your stress, but if you don’t get enough sleep overtime, everything else can start to suffer. With my clients, I try to make sleep a focus to ensure they can perform the way they would like to in session and for their daily functions.
Why does sleep matter? (and what happens when you don’t get enough)
Sleep isn’t just ‘time off’. It helps your body repair itself, rebalances hormones and helps the brain reset. If you don’t get enough sleep, it can affect everything from your mood, focus, metabolism and lifespan.
With chronic sleep deprivation...
Brain health: Poor sleep is linked to potential brain shrinkage and bad memory.
Metabolism: Increase your chance for obesity, diabetes and other outlying ailments.
Performance: Sore, slower reaction times, and reduction in strength.
On the other hand, if you get enough sleep. You should experience:
– Better memory and problem solving
– Quicker recovery from workouts
– Stronger immune system
– More energy throughout the day.
Because your body hits these stages.
– Stage 1: Light sleep – that dozing phase. (Level, easy)
– Stage 2: Heart rate slows, body temp drops. (Level, medium)
– Stage 3 and 4 (deep sleep) The restorative stage/REM sleep – this is when muscles repair, immune boost and growth hormones are released. Your brain activity spikes, those dreams start to happen, then your memories merge or consolidate. (Level, expert)
How many zzz’s do you really need?
Getting 7-9 hours of sleep per night is the sweet spot. Anything less than that on a daily basis, you might be running on empty whether you feel it or not. Please don’t get me wrong, there are genetic outliers who thrive with 6 hours or less. But the chances of being one of them is 40 out of 1 million.
The challenge for most isn’t know how much you need. It’s making room for it. This is where strategy comes in. Consistency is king. Going to bed and waking up at the same time (even on weekends) can put your body into a better natural rhythm.
When your circadian rhythm and internal ‘sleep pressure’ system or adenosine buildup are “NSYNC”, sleep feels a bit more natural vs forced. When they are out of sync, you can say “BYE, BYE, BYE” to waking up refreshed, and you are often groggy. Here are a few tips that might be helpful in the upcoming weeks and months to help with getting better sleep:
1. Try to avoid screens an hour before your bedtime. Doom scrolling and blue light messes with melatonin.
2. Set the mood. Dim the lights. Try some soft, red tinted bulbs instead of LED’s.
3. Keep your room cool. 60-67 F is ideal.
4. Block outdoor light. Use black out curtains if you can.
5. A quiet place. Use earplugs or some form of white noise. Especially if your partner snores.
6. NO TV. Swap it out with a book, or a lengthy blog you printed out (don’t print this one).
7. Sleep position: try sleeping on your side or on your back.
8. Set a wind down routine. Read, stretch, journal, meditate. Anything that helps signal it’s time to sleep.
** Bonus tips.
-Brain dump before bed. Write all your to do’s down to keep your mind from racing.
-Keep it simple for you. It’s about consistent and sufficient sleep.
‘Take 2 of these tips and call me in the morning’ Then try to track your bedtime, wakes up each week. Then, adjust until you hit that sweet spot.
