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Getting Your Zs: Five Tips For Better Sleep
Health | February 06, 2014
Sleep is an essential aspect of wellbeing and fitness. According to Dr. Phyllis Zee (what a fitting last name!), a sleep specialist and professor of neurology at University of Chicago, exercise, diet and sleep are the three essential components to health. Dr. Zee goes on to explain that exercise and sleep share an important relationship with one another. The two go hand in hand.
A lack of sleep or exercise directly affects the other. Unfortunately, sleep is often the most overlooked aspect of our fitness routines. Our busy schedules, our daily anxieties, all take a toll on our need for rest. Dr. Zee insists that we need, at least, seven hours of sleep at night. Here are five tips to help you get a better night’s sleep:
Stretch and/or Meditate – Allow yourself to unwind for ten to thirty minutes before you sleep. Stretching and meditation (see my piece on meditation here) are fantastic ways to relax your mind and body.
Prepare Your Bedroom – Treat sleep like a ritual and follow a routine. Make sure your bedroom is dark, cool and comfortable before you lie down. Studies show cooler temperatures allow for better sleep. Turn off any electronics to insure your room is dark. Some people benefit from wearing an eye mask, especially if one is sensitive to light.
Catch Up – If your hectic schedule simply doesn’t allow you to sleep enough, catch up on your days off. Sleep in for nine, even ten hours. Sleep has a cumulative effect. Try to measure how much sleep you get in terms of the week, not just on a daily basis.
Avoid Alcohol and Heavy Foods – This may be a no-brainer for us, but it’s also a good reminder that diet plays an important role in our ability to sleep as well. Heavy foods keep our bodies from relaxing due to the digestive toll it requires. While many think alcohol helps with sleep, in fact, it doesn’t. Alcohol inhibits our body from entering into REM (Rapid Eye Movement), our deepest, most important sleep cycle. This is why people wake up restless and achy after a night of drinking even if they’ve slept in for ten hours.
Exercise Of Course! – Exercise is proven to help us sleep, even for people who suffer insomnia as shown in a recent study done at Northwestern University. If you’re still having difficulty sleeping while consistently exercising, try adjusting your workout time. Some people sleep better by working out earlier in the day, while others sleep better by working out late in the afternoon or at night.
Just like exercising, even rest requires some effort. Remember though, the benefits of proper rest are vital for our mental and physical wellbeing.
Private Member |
Dear Zuzka!
I’m a big fan of yours since years and you would comment on your post concerning sleeping (http://www.zuzkalight.com/blog/five-tips-for-better-sleep/).
Please take a look at this. According to this study less sleep is much healthier than to sleep 9-10 hours: http://www.bulletproofexec.com/sleep-hacking-1-million-people-prove-sleeping-5-hours-is-healther-than-sleeping-8-hours/
Private Member |
Please forgive me for being so off-topic. I followed you when you were on Bodyrock and LOVED your workouts – although getting through them sometimes made me feel like an old man. After you left, I completely lost interest. I just found this site and am very excited to start using it. Kudos!
Private Member |
I think that there are lots of studies out there that provide conflicting information. Just like we all have different backgrounds that can create various food allergies thus meaning some diets aren’t best for everyone, there isn’t a set amount of sleep every single person should have.
That being said, 7-8 hours per night is recommended for most people. As for the 9-10 hours on weekends, I’ve always heard conflicting stuff about that as well, but I think the point Z is trying to make is that you need to give your body enough time to rest and heal. Every person is going to be affected a little bit differently than the next.
Private Member |
I usually sleep about eight hours a night, but at the weekends I can do ten, I’ve even done 12 once before. I don’t like to sleep in so late on my days off but at the same time it’s not being “lazy”, my body obviously needed it.
Private Member |
I work night shifts (“graveyard-shifts”) sometimes, and when I wake up from these shifts, no matter if I slept 8-10-12 hours I feel like I have a hangover, and I suffer from low energy through the entire day! I think this is just as serious as alcohol and bad diet. But I need to make money 🙂 Fortunately I don’t work more than 3 night shifts in a row 🙂
Private Member |
hi Zuzka!, I want to talk about this so much! (sorry for my english but I speak spanish), since april 2013 I can’t sleep all night, I started waking up once time at night but now I get up like 3 times at night. First I thought that will stop it and maybe because of university and “stress” I woke up, but now I am in vacations about 2 month and I keep waking up on night like 3 times! I guess my biological clock get used to wake up :(. I did the mistake that when I woke up and eat something I slept easily so my body get used to eat at that time (like babys when they want their milk at night 🙁 ).
this week I really get bad and sad because I am really tired and disappointed because this thing win me. do you have some advice?? please someone help!!!!
Private Member |
Hi Mag! I also struggle with the problem that I awake late night being hungry and after I eat at least something I can continue my sleep otherwise I am awaken till morning. I found that if I eat 4-5 pm and then take something very very small at 9pm I am very sleepy before 11 pm already and if I feel discomfort I drink water. also I tried to eat salad leaves if i feel late hunger… but anyway I am very hungry in the morning ))) hope it was useful and u can try something of that.
Private Member |
thanks! I will try it for sure!
Private Member |
I love this. I notice I do best when I work out at night, because it makes me sleep really soundly and I wake up completely refreshed after only about 6 hours. I take naps almost every day, for at least a couple of hours around 5 o’clock, especially in the winter. The morning after I work out I feel amazingly energized. It’s great to have figured out my own rhythm and schedule, and to know what works for me. I used to think I had to work out in the morning, but it would just make me want to go back to bed afterward! I just did your beginner ZRopes workout and now I’m ready for sleep!