Are you good at sleeping?
I don't mean do you love sleeping.
I want to know if you are good at a fundamental aspect of your overall health.
In a previous post, I talked about the importance of rest and recovery to your overall health and fitness. But today, I want to talk about just good old-fashioned sleep - as in, the eight or so hours you spend at night in your bed, attempting to shut off that brain and hopefully wake up refreshed the next day.
I'm someone that often struggles with getting good sleep.
Up until the last few years, I never prioritized sleep. I would go to bed at haphazard times and not fall asleep for an hour or more. I would wake up groggy and literally tell myself "You can sleep when you're dead" as I was getting up.
I now know better.
My dog Remy is a pretty darn good sleeper.
Why Is Sleep So Important?
We all know we need sleep, but one can just take a look at an average person's schedule to realize that we as a society do not value sleep.
But we need to.
You know that sleep deprivation is bad, but getting adequate sleep does not simply mean avoiding that deprivation. Your brain actually depends on quality sleep in order to run through essential functions.
For example, your ability to consolidate memory is dependent on sleep - it doesn't just help you remember things; studies show that our brains actually sift through the day's events for the important parts to store away. Studies suggest that the brain also relies on deep sleep to rid itself of toxins (such as those that are linked to Alzheimer's) that build up while we're awake.
Besides cognition, several studies have also shown that improving or disrupting sleep in subjects can have profound effects on their health - I'm talking actual causation or alleviation of serious illness such as cardiovascular disease.
Check out this article on The Work We Do While We Sleep.
Image by mathey from Pixabay
Good Sleep vs. Bad Sleep
Anyone who's had a "bad" night of sleep, raise your hand.
You tossed and turned. You had bizarre, vivid stress dreams. You woke up five times to pee and spent an hour falling back asleep each time.
What are you like the next day? Even though you technically laid in your bed for eight hours, you still didn't get the benefits you were supposed to get from sleep. You're like this dog up here, napping in the middle of the workday.
Now obviously, all of us go through this once in a while. But if it's every night, there's something amiss.
How do you know if you're enjoying good sleep?
Experts agree on a couple of key points:
1. You are able to fall asleep quickly. If you're able to turn that brain off and can fall asleep within half an hour, this is a good indicator.
2. You don't wake up too many times. Waking up once to pee and falling asleep quickly again after that is good. Any more is likely too disruptive.
3. You sleep the majority of the time you're in bed. Being in the bed staring at your phone or the ceiling does not count. You should be asleep about 85% of the time.
4. You get in 7 hours or more. Actual people who don't need much sleep to function well do exist. I wish I was one of them. However, the vast majority of us need that eight hours of shuteye, every day. There is no "sleep debt" that can be made up on the weekend, either.
Photo by simardfrancois from Pixabay
How to Improve Your Sleep
1. Have a bedtime ritual. Our bodies respond to our habits, good or bad. We are constantly sending signals to ourselves, whether we realize it or not. You can train your body to hear the signal for bedtime by personalizing a bedtime ritual.
2. Avoid blue light. You may have heard that our perpetual exposure to blue light has resulted in disruption in our circadian rhythms. If you can't avoid the screen altogether after dark (I certainly can't), try adjusting to a nighttime mode that cuts out the blue. I put on blue blocking glasses as soon as the sun goes down and have noticed a marked improvement in my ability to fall asleep faster.
3. Stop eating at least two hours before bedtime. Your body needs time to digest, and having a lot of food in your stomach right before bedtime is bound to disrupt your sleep. I stop eating by 8 pm on most nights. That includes snacks and dessert.
4. Keep your bedroom cool. Many health experts recommend keeping your bedroom at a cool 68 degrees Fahrenheit to promote optimal sleep. Personally, I have found that a cooler bedroom results in better sleep for me.
5. Regular exercise. You knew I was going to say this, right? Movement is part of our DNA. Our bodies were made for far more than movement from the car to the couch to the bed. Prime your body for sleep by giving it something to do while you're sleeping, like repairing and building muscle. You'll wake up better and stronger, too. Just don't do it right before bed.
I'm still trying to get better at sleep - it's an important part of my overall health.
Let me know what tips you have to get in that precious eight hours and wake up ready to take on the world.