Tired of Being Tired? My top tips for getting a restful night sleep!
We spend close to 30 years of our lives sleeping, which works out to be about ⅓ of our life! So it’s likely no surprise that if we aren’t sleeping well it can negatively impact our health, and our performance and recovery as athletes too. I recommend athletes get at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night. However, depending on where you are in your training schedule, you may require even more than 8 hours of sleep. Let’s jump right into my top tips for getting a good night sleep and why each one is so important!
Avoid exercise within 2 hours of your bedtime. This is because if we are exercising too late at night it makes it harder for us to get into our “rest and digest” nervous system mode, also known as our parasympathetic nervous system. Give yourself ample time to wind down and chill out before bedtime. In 1 study it was found that athletes that did just 1 hour of exercise in the evening resulted in an increase of sleep latency (the time it takes to fall asleep) by 30 minutes. Great activities to do before bed instead are reading a calming book, doing some gentle stretching or yoga, practicing a breathing technique or mindfulness meditation.
No caffeine (coffee, black tea, green tea, other sources of caffeine) after 12:00 pm. Caffeine has a half life of 5-7 hours, which means it takes the body 5-7 hours to metabolize 50% of the caffeine you ingested. That being said some folks are fast metabolizers (often discovered upon genetic testing) and others are even slower at breaking down caffeine. So tap into your own body’s caffeine tolerance and reduce caffeine intake or avoid it altogether if you fall into the slow metabolizer bucket. In addition, if you are someone who suffers from anxiety, removing caffeine from your diet may be something to consider as it can exacerbate anxiety symptoms such as heart palpitations, jitteriness and general feelings of stress.
Stop all screen use at least 2 hours before bedtime. This includes cellphones, television, laptop and computer screens. These screens emit blue light which can interfere with our circadian rhythms. You can also purchase blue light blocking glasses or change your screens’ settings to block blue light after sunset if you must be in front of a screen close to bedtime. Just be mindful of the material you are consuming close to bedtime. Think about what kind of response your body might go through when watching an action-packed show such as Game of Thrones (don’t get me wrong, I love GOT!) versus something more calming like The Office.
Expose yourself to natural light upon waking. This helps the body regulate its naturally occurring circadian rhythm following the sunrise and sunset. This can simply be done by opening up your blinds and curtains first thing in the morning when you wake up.
Avoid alcohol before bed. Although alcohol is a depressant that makes us feel sleepy it actually impairs our ability to get into the REM (rapid eye movement) stage of sleep. REM sleep is when we dream and is important for our memory. Drinking alcohol before bed may also cause you to wake up throughout the night without you noticing or impair your breathing while you sleep. Have you ever noticed that the morning after a few too many drinks you feel tired despite sleeping a full 8 hours? This is why!
Make sure your bedroom is cool, dark and quiet. This one may seem kind of obvious but do your best to set your room up to be as cozy and conducive to sleep as possible!
Avoid high fat foods before bed. This includes things like butter, high fat yogurt and cheese, and oils. It takes the digestive system a lot of energy and work to digest fatty foods which can negatively impact our ability to sleep. Instead, if you are struggling to sleep well try incorporating foods in the evening that naturally contain melatonin, our main sleep hormone. These foods include tart cherries, almonds, tomatoes, raspberries and walnuts.
Maintain a regular bed and wake time. Keeping a consistent wake and bedtime can help regulate your circadian rhythm and prepare your body for restful sleep. Set your bedtime based on what time you need to wake up at (since this stays relatively consistent for most of us) to ensure you are getting that sweet spot of 8 hours of sleep each night.
Use your bedroom for sleep and sex only. This one might seem like a no brainer but making sure your bedroom isn’t used for activities such as exercise or watching tv may help you sleep better. Prioritize your bedroom to be a calming sanctuary so that you can relax and drift off to dreamland, nice and peacefully!
Make sure you’re eating enough food during the day. This is to avoid night time snacking or blood sugar drops through the night which can wake you up. Need help figuring out how much and what you should be eating throughout the day? I’d love to help!
If you try these sleep hygiene recommendations and you still have trouble either falling asleep or staying asleep I’d suggest reaching out to your healthcare provider for help. In addition, if you’re getting 8 hours of sleep each night but still wake up feeling unrefreshed and tired, you should also seek a medical opinion in case you have a sleep condition such as sleep apnea. Ultimately, you want to address the root cause of poor sleep - if it’s stress causing impaired sleep, let’s get you managing your stress better. If it’s your sleep environment that’s impacting your ability to sleep, let’s optimize it for restful sleep. You get the picture.
So many important processes happen when we sleep including hormone regulation, immune system functioning, cell recovery and repair so stop putting your sleep on the back burner!
References:
Why We Sleep - Unlocking the power of sleep and dreams by Matthew Walker, PhD
DOI: 10.1055/a-0905-3103
