I'm sure you've met someone who talks up their lack of sleep. I live in a city filled with them. Lack of sleep is worn as a badge of honor, demonstrating how much our lives are ruled by work and external validation. It's almost like a game of "can you top this," with the winner always claiming to have slept the fewest number of hours the night before or woken up the earliest. Several years ago, I was one of those people. I thought, "life is short and I want to spend as much time as I can awake, doing things. Sleep is a waste of precious time."
Don't get me wrong, I'm an early riser, but I now recognize and appreciate the power of sleep, from both a physical and mental performance standpoint.
Like many teenagers, I used to watch the show "Cribs" on MTV (don't worry, there's a point to this). During almost every house tour, when it came time to show the person's bedroom, its unveiling was too often preceded by the cliche "and this is where the magic happens." In a weird way, they are right!
Sleep is all about repair and rebuilding. Take for example muscle tissue. When it's trained, whether from hard running or performing heavy squats, the muscle tissue becomes damaged. The soreness that is felt is the result of small tears in the actual muscle tissue itself. Ever touch a muscle (say your quads) after a really tough workout or race? It feels tender and inflamed, right? This is all apart of the body's natural response to damage. It sets in motion a cascade of inflammatory processes to help repair the damaged tissue.
A lack of sleep also negatively impacts health in a host of ways, evening increasing diabetes, heart disease, and obesity risk, as well as contributing to mental health conditions such as depression.
Because sleep is so foundational to human health, I focus a lot on finding ways to optimize it. Here are a few things:
Don't get me wrong, I'm an early riser, but I now recognize and appreciate the power of sleep, from both a physical and mental performance standpoint.
Like many teenagers, I used to watch the show "Cribs" on MTV (don't worry, there's a point to this). During almost every house tour, when it came time to show the person's bedroom, its unveiling was too often preceded by the cliche "and this is where the magic happens." In a weird way, they are right!
Sleep is all about repair and rebuilding. Take for example muscle tissue. When it's trained, whether from hard running or performing heavy squats, the muscle tissue becomes damaged. The soreness that is felt is the result of small tears in the actual muscle tissue itself. Ever touch a muscle (say your quads) after a really tough workout or race? It feels tender and inflamed, right? This is all apart of the body's natural response to damage. It sets in motion a cascade of inflammatory processes to help repair the damaged tissue.
A lack of sleep also negatively impacts health in a host of ways, evening increasing diabetes, heart disease, and obesity risk, as well as contributing to mental health conditions such as depression.
Because sleep is so foundational to human health, I focus a lot on finding ways to optimize it. Here are a few things:
Upgrade Your Sleep
1. Go to Bed at the Same Time - Ever have the experience when you go to bed after a late evening, plan to "sleep in" and end up waking up at the same old time you always wake up? I've had this happen countless times. Even if I hit the sack at midnight, my body doesn't get the memo to shift it's wake time back two hours. I'll still be wide awake, ready to go around 6am (I normally wake up anywhere between 5am and 6am). Keep doing this and it's the surest way to accumulate fatigue, compromise your immune system, stifle athletic performance, increase stress, and throw your cardio-metabolic system out of whack, which is why chronic lack of sleep is linked to obesity, diabetes and heart disease. The list of athletic performance factors affected by lack of sleep is quite long, but to name a few: decreased motivation, low body temperature, increased degree of exertion, and increased duration of task (among others). Beyond physical functioning, consistent quality sleep of roughly 7 hours is associated with higher levels of cognitive performance. Basically, if you want to think better, remember things, and be mentally sharp, sleep is a must.
2. Magnesium - Every night, about 30-45 minutes before bed, I'll have about one tablespoon of Natural Calm magnesium with 8oz of water. This powerhouse of a mineral is a cofactor in more than 300 enzyme systems throughout the body. Everything from protein synthesis, to the structural development of bone, to the synthesis of our body's DNA and natural antioxidants are to thank, in part, for magnesium. What happens when the body doesn't get enough magnesium? Well, quite a lot, potentially. There's a fairly long list of symptoms associated with magnesium deficiency. And unfortunately, about half of the U.S. population doesn't consume the recommended amount of magnesium from food. But, related to sleep, magnesium is a natural relaxant, particularly for muscles. On a hormonal level, magnesium deactivates adrenaline, essentially calming the body's "fight of flight" mechanism. This is why magnesium has been so helpful for me the night before races, when I'm hopped up with excitement and nervousness.
3. Cold Exposure - There are some pretty complex biochemical reactions in your body triggered by cold exposure. If you're interested in the details, check out the blog series by neurosurgeon Jack Kruse. The take away with exposure to cold (which can be cold showers for example) is that not only does it stimulate increased caloric burning through brown adipose tissue, it helps the body enter into deeper sleep. Most of my post-workout showers are cold, which usually consist of about 5 minutes in the morning and then another 5 minutes in the evening.
4. EMF Exposure - Not too long ago I began learning a bit more about the potential impact of EMF exposure on sleep. I've seen research that has gone both ways (difference and no-difference). One of the largest sources of EMF in our homes is the wireless router. Having a router is obviously convenient as laptops, tablets and other devices have become more popular. But, until recently, I really never thought about how it could influence my health. Turns out, it did (and does) more than I thought. So, about nine months ago I began to unplug our wireless router every night before going to bed (not just turn off, but actually unplug). I was shocked at the difference. Yes, this was not a controlled experiment and there could've been any number of factors as to why I slept better, but I'm convinced this is one of them. A good way to compare now is when I sleep in hotels versus at home. Most hotels have a fairly extensive wireless system, and I often find my sleep quality diminishes when I sleep at a hotel. Again, there is no way to draw any causal relationships, but it's one thing I've modified in my sleep routine and I've noticed a difference in sleep quality.
5. Darkness- This may seem obvious, but limiting the amount of light (especially artificial) in the bedroom makes a huge difference. I've found that even the small amount of light from a digital clock on a night stand can be enough to throw me off. In the case of the clock, my wife fashioned a shade that's taped onto the clock and flaps over the clock to cover the light. When I'm traveling and staying in hotels, I'll simply place a shirt over the clock. Shades over the windows are also helpful. Though I've found that blackout shades are a double edged sword because they don't allow any light - even natural sunlight - in the morning that triggers your circadian rhythm.
2. Magnesium - Every night, about 30-45 minutes before bed, I'll have about one tablespoon of Natural Calm magnesium with 8oz of water. This powerhouse of a mineral is a cofactor in more than 300 enzyme systems throughout the body. Everything from protein synthesis, to the structural development of bone, to the synthesis of our body's DNA and natural antioxidants are to thank, in part, for magnesium. What happens when the body doesn't get enough magnesium? Well, quite a lot, potentially. There's a fairly long list of symptoms associated with magnesium deficiency. And unfortunately, about half of the U.S. population doesn't consume the recommended amount of magnesium from food. But, related to sleep, magnesium is a natural relaxant, particularly for muscles. On a hormonal level, magnesium deactivates adrenaline, essentially calming the body's "fight of flight" mechanism. This is why magnesium has been so helpful for me the night before races, when I'm hopped up with excitement and nervousness.
3. Cold Exposure - There are some pretty complex biochemical reactions in your body triggered by cold exposure. If you're interested in the details, check out the blog series by neurosurgeon Jack Kruse. The take away with exposure to cold (which can be cold showers for example) is that not only does it stimulate increased caloric burning through brown adipose tissue, it helps the body enter into deeper sleep. Most of my post-workout showers are cold, which usually consist of about 5 minutes in the morning and then another 5 minutes in the evening.
4. EMF Exposure - Not too long ago I began learning a bit more about the potential impact of EMF exposure on sleep. I've seen research that has gone both ways (difference and no-difference). One of the largest sources of EMF in our homes is the wireless router. Having a router is obviously convenient as laptops, tablets and other devices have become more popular. But, until recently, I really never thought about how it could influence my health. Turns out, it did (and does) more than I thought. So, about nine months ago I began to unplug our wireless router every night before going to bed (not just turn off, but actually unplug). I was shocked at the difference. Yes, this was not a controlled experiment and there could've been any number of factors as to why I slept better, but I'm convinced this is one of them. A good way to compare now is when I sleep in hotels versus at home. Most hotels have a fairly extensive wireless system, and I often find my sleep quality diminishes when I sleep at a hotel. Again, there is no way to draw any causal relationships, but it's one thing I've modified in my sleep routine and I've noticed a difference in sleep quality.
5. Darkness- This may seem obvious, but limiting the amount of light (especially artificial) in the bedroom makes a huge difference. I've found that even the small amount of light from a digital clock on a night stand can be enough to throw me off. In the case of the clock, my wife fashioned a shade that's taped onto the clock and flaps over the clock to cover the light. When I'm traveling and staying in hotels, I'll simply place a shirt over the clock. Shades over the windows are also helpful. Though I've found that blackout shades are a double edged sword because they don't allow any light - even natural sunlight - in the morning that triggers your circadian rhythm.
****
This evening, when it's time to hit the sack, give one of these a shot. Better yet, if there are things I've missed that are helpful for sleep, leave a comment below.
.JPG)