5 Ways To Improve Your Sleep
3 THINGS DRIVE THIS WORLD... SEX, MONEY, POWER SLEEP.
JUST 5 MORE MINUTES, JUST 5 MORE MINUTES, THAT'S ALL I NEED.
WHY AM I SO TIRED?
For most of us we go to bed at the same time, and wake up at the same time, go to work, follow our routine day in day out, our body adapts and we get used to it. But for some, sleep is a dream in a far away land, unicorns, Santa, yeah it’s all make believe, why can't they sleep? What is holding them back from laying down in their bed at night?
When we work out, we need to recover, we need to grow, the optimum time for us to do all of this is in our sleep, so if we aren’t resting, we aren’t progressing. If you put as much time into your training as you did in your sleeping, you would see your results skyrocket. So let’s start your new sleeping routine with these 5 tips:
one: planning
Plan your day, plan your week. Most of us have an iPhone which has a calendar app that can sync to our emails and any device. Plan your week so you know what times you have to wake up and go to sleep and prepare for your day the night before.
two: reduce caffeine
If you’re trying to re-energise yourself with your third coffee of the day, chances are its not going to do anything. Every time you have a coffee or any other caffeine product it's draining your adrenal glands, so it's going to make you crash, become more tired and lose energy, and that last one for the day is still going to affect your ability to sleep late at night. Remember, caffeine doesn’t actually give you energy, it just tricks your mind in to thinking it has energy. If you are feeling drained, chances are you haven’t had enough food or you are dehydrated.
three: reduce stress/anxiety
These guys affect a lot of us, and our sleep is non-existent, and when we do get to sleep, it's pretty crappy, waking up constantly throughout the night. What controls our sleep patterns is a hormone called Cortisol, it's like a wave pattern of mental energy you could say. For people who have stable Cortisol levels they will fall asleep when their levels are low, low brain activity, it's easy for them to get in to REM and wake up naturally when their Cortisol spikes again, with several little spikes through out their sleep. Which is when you might hear something at night, or need to go to the toilet.
For people who suffer from anxiety, you will see lots of spikes through out the night that will keep you awake or in a light, disturbed sleep that causes even more panic and anxiety! For me, I find that this can cause even worse anxiety, knowing that I haven’t had enough sleep for a big day can really affect the rest of my day. Even though this isn’t a tip, I feel knowledge and understanding can help. But the next tip can also help these challenges.
four: supplements
If you use them in your training, use them in your sleeping. “Cort RX” will help with points 2 & 3, reducing the adrenal fatigue from coffee and also slowing down the effects of Cortisol throughout the body, meaning less stress and anxiety, controlling your levels of sleep better [get Cort RX here]. "Shred Time" by Lecheek Nutrition is something I rely on, with Fibromyalgia my Cortisol levels fly about everywhere, so getting to sleep and staying asleep is a major challenge for me [get Shred Time here]. A scoop before bed gets me to sleep in 15 minutes and waking up when my alarm goes off. Not only does it assist with sleep, but when your body goes in to REM it is repairing at a higher rate, and your BMR is working at its hardest meaning you’re metabolism is firing and burning away at fat and building muscle. Staples of repairing also are BCAAS, Protein & L-Glutamine, these are major factors in repairing.
five: sleep position
How do you sleep? On your side? Back? Or like you have passed out after a big night of drinking looking like a pretzel? The way your body is positioned is important to getting a good nights sleep, not only are you spending 1/3 of your life in bed and the way you are set up but the stress you put on your muscles will alter your Cortisol levels too. So practice laying on your back, cover your eyes, create a dark space and invest in some comfortable bedding.
I used to dread going to bed. I couldn’t sleep, I would stay up to the small hours, just entertaining myself with whatever is going on. I think the Internet causes a lot of a distraction, you can find your self scrolling and cycling between Facebook, Instagram and other social media apps for no reason. Just put the phone on charge, somewhere longer than arms reach so you can't reach for it when your bored, or when that alarm goes off in the morning you have to get up and turn it off. I wish I could go back in time and tell Faithless these tips, but then again we might not have a classic dance tune!
Like always subscribe to the blog, tell me your tips on how you get to sleep.