Get ready for this one. I am about to throw out a heck of a tip that will make a substantial difference in your life immediately. It will make you better at work, better at home, better at the gym, and better in the sack. True story. Ya, I know. I have your attention now!
I am not about to blow your mind with what this tip is, however. It’s simple.
Sleep.
Sleep is one of the first things we talk about with new members coming in on our six week challenge programs. Fact is, it doesn’t matter how much we train if we are not getting enough sleep. It does not matter how precisely we weigh and measure our perfectly calculated macros if we are not getting enough sleep. Sleep will win. I read an article a while back from a Crossfit Games athlete’s coach who spoke about sleep and how he deals with that with his athletes. He talked about how that he will recommend his athletes to not train on a day after a particularly bad sleep. He stressed how training when already tired and run down will only make set you back further in the long run and getting the required sleep and rest would better help them achieve their goals.
We have all heard them before. All those “sleep tips” that are thrown out there. We know them, but are we actually adhering to them? Making even small changes can make a big difference in your sleep. Here’s a few of the things that you may have heard before and a little bit of the “why” behind them.
Make your room as dark as possible. Please don’t ever ask my wife how I did this in our bedroom (it involves some a shiny baking accessory and some masking tape). Making your bedroom helps with melatonin (our body naturally produces it when we sleep) production. Use black out blinds, keep nightlights out in the hallway, dim the clock, screens face down, etc. I’ve read even so much as the small LED status lights on electronics can affect this. Regardless, whatever we can do to keep things dark will help.
Make your sleep area relaxing. This means having a “clean room” essentially. Keep clutter and unnecessary items to a minimum. Don’t do any stress-inducing things while in your bedroom (ie. pay bills online, read work emails, browse the internet). If noise is an issue, consider some “white noise” to drown out disrupting sounds. A simple circular fan can be used for this or there are tons of apps to download for free.
Establish a “bed time” routine. This is something I read an article on the other day actually. How often do you here about a bed time routine for infants? If you have kids, you know exactly what I am talking about. If you don’t have kids; well, one day you will know all about it haha. This is so true though! Part of that routine can incorporate a shower or bath. Both are great ways to signal the body to get ready for sleep. Where it gets conflicting is temperature. I have read a lot of studies on the benefits of cold and the benefits of hot. I won’t get in to it all in this blog but I will say whatever works for you, make it habit.
To continue that train of thought on temperature, room temperature is something we can easily control and ha a large affect on sleep. When we sleep, our metabolism slows down and our body naturally cools. We can aid in this by keeping the heat down at night. We want the air temperature to be cool. However, if we are “cold” when sleeping, we will have a disturbed sleep. Keeping the air cool while we are warm under the covers is ideal. Make sure you turn the heat down at night if you do not have a programmable thermostat. If you do, have it pre-triggered to start warming fifteen or twenty minute before you alarm is set to go off in the morning to aid in the “wake up” cycle.
Lastly, the electronics. Turn them off. Stay off anything with a screen that is backlit (e-readers are not backlit for the most part) for at least 20 minutes before bed. This is nothing new to us and there are all kinds of things out there to help with this. “Night mode” or “blue light blocking glasses”, etc. While all of these offer some aid, why not just let the mind unwind and stay completely off them for 20 or 30 minutes? Easy enough and problem solved.
And there we have it. While each of the above five points could probably be an entire blog on their own, I’ll leave it at that. This are just some simple tips that can start to make a big difference in our sleep. If our sleep is better, we are better!
Just like any aspect of our health, start with making a small change. Once that is habit, make another. Before long, we are far better off than we once were and we don’t even realize it. Implement one of the above things and run with it. After a while, introduce another. In our fast paced society that seems to reward “being busy”, take the time to make a sleep a priority. With enough rest, we can be far more productive in every aspect of our life.
Sleep well, my friends!