I’m pretty sure somewhere along the way you have heard the recommendation to get 7-8 hours sleep each night. This is pretty common knowledge for most people but how many of you actually get the correct amount?
It is estimated that 30% of Canadians get less than 6 hours of sleep per night. There have been numerous studies on sleep and its link to heart disease, obesity, Alzheimer’s and diabetes…
In one study. A group of 21 individuals lived in a sleep lab for almost 6 weeks. They were well rested to begin with, averaging 10 hours of sleep for the first week or so. They began to mimic a shift pattern of sleeping by having 5.6 hours of sleep per day with the sleep coming later and later…
Over the course of 3 weeks, the body started producing less insulin and blood sugar levels went crazy. Some participants had levels high enough to have been diagnosed as pre-diabetic.
This is pretty scary stuff but luckily it’s an easy fix…Get More Sleep!
I’ve heard people say ‘I only need 5 hours’ and they almost seem proud of the fact. I would say that these people don’t know what its like to feel and operate at optimal levels. Just because you CAN get away with only having 5-6 hours sleep per day, doesn’t mean you should. The long-term effects aren’t favorable.
As a community involved in physical training and performance, sleep is as important as nutrition and exercise. I find my personal performance drops drastically without at least 7 hours per day. If you are looking for optimal performance in sports, I would say to try to get 9 or more hours in bed.
I’m sure some of you are thinking you don’t have time to sleep this much. Well, I believe you have time for whatever is a priority for you. There are always sacrifices that need to be made but if your health is important to you then they should be easy to make.
I have a few things for you to think about implementing to try to improve the amount of sleep you get and the quality of your sleep:
- Be more productive during the day so you have time to get to bed early (this will actually become easier as you sleep more)
- Try to keep a similar sleep schedule – wake up and bedtimes should be consistent
- Keep bedroom cool and consistent in temperature
- Aim for 7-9 hours, depending on the physical demands of your day and performance levels needed
- Have a pitch black room
- No stimulants (coffee, alcohol, etc.) close to bedtime
- Take a warm shower before bed
Think of all the time and money you spend on trying to improve your health through gym memberships or buying organic produce. Sleep can have the biggest overall effect on your health and its FREE…
Make it a priority and feel the benefits of increased performance and quality of life
Darren
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/late-to-bed-early-to-rise-a-recipe-for-diabetes-201204174607
http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/4/129/129ra43
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/lack-sleep-may-be-linked-risk-factor-alzheimers-disease