Take This Quick Test and See if Sleep’s Hurting Your Fitness Journey
I’m the one to talk on this subject since my PT still have to trick me into rest and recovery days. Even through injuries, not uncommon to professional athletes, we train, something I would never recommend for a client. I know I know to practice what you preach right, so I do (try) to rest more normally when my body fights me back with an untimely injury.
There is a laundry list of great health benefits regarding sleep, including mental and physical improvements. Emotionally, we all have those days when we are more irritable or moody. Usually, the cause is a lack of sleep or even too much sleep. Do you remember a time when you slept in and stayed lying in bed drafting on and off; how did that day end up?
Deep sleep helps the brain retain information; I recently read that learning was once considered impossible after the reap old age of 21. That later has been debunked, learning such a new language or skill, is possible at any age given no underlying health disorders. Again, quality sleep stores the newfound skill in your memory as well as sparks your creative thinking.
As for the gains, we LOVE gains, and deep sleep repairs the muscles by removing the inflammation that builds up over time. The saying stress is a silent killer, I'm convinced, stress sometimes keeps people from having a good night of rest, which in turn hinders the regulation of the metabolism and decreases the time our bodies have to eliminate inflammation.
Chronic inflammation leads to other severe health issues, part of that is my opinion, and the other part comes from Henry Emmons MD in psychiatric coined such thoughts. He came up with eight yes or no questions to help determine if your sleep needs attention. He stated; answering “no” to the majority of these questions suggests you need to go to bed now. No, but work to enhance your sleep life and make it your priority for at least a month.
How is your sleep? YES NO
Do you sleep at least seven hours most nights?
Do you get up at the same time every morning?
Do you exercise for 45 minutes per day?
Do you fall asleep within 20 minutes?
If you wake up in the middle of the night,
do you return to sleep quickly?
6. If you nap, is it for less than 45 minutes?
7. Do you eat supper at least three hours before bed?
8. If you don’t sleep well, have you reduced -
your consumption of caffeine and alcohol?
Now, is your sleep life awesome? If so, great, go on crushing your health and fitness goals! For those of us that struggle in the sleep department, here are some tips from the doc. Start early, start your day with sunlight exposure, open those curtains, and if time allows for 30 minutes of exercise in the morning. Stay on the natural rhythm of the day. That can be quite challenging in the more northern states and countries. Since, in the winter months, daylight is drastically shortened. Have your glass of wine with dinner to prevent drinking too late at night, and try not to eat right before bedtime.
Lastly, and probably the most difficult one, cut the screen time off 30 minutes to an hour before bed to allow yourself to wind down. Remember, there is such a thing as too much sleep and not enough sleep. Between 7 and 8 hours is the ultra-sweet spot, but between 6-9 hours is also sweet.
Live life free and stay Fit!
J’Nathan Bullock CSCS