When it comes to training, you’ll often think about the gym – weights, reps, sets, miles, time, etc. It’s the obvious part. Do the work, stretch your body’s capacity, and get results. One of the less obvious (and maybe most underrated) parts of training comes in the form of rest, most importantly in the form of sleep.
Sleep is your body’s time to restore. It is critical for cell regeneration, for neurological performance, for your immune and endocrine systems, even for staying stress free. Without adequate sleep you are at best less effective, at worst, totally worthless. Lack of sleep has been linked to depression, inflammation, insulin resistance, weight gain, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and high blood pressure. You’ve all probably felt it, grumpy or twitchy if you miss a little sleep, run down and foggy if you start to miss even just a little more. One of the biggest breakdowns is that if you miss enough, the way you feel starts to become “normal” and you don’t even know there’s anything amiss!
With respect to exercise, lack of sleep blunts your body’s ability to repair bone and muscle — it is quite possibly the most critical part of seeing the results you want from your exercise!
Your weekly challenge for Week 3 is to get at least 7 hours of sleep every day.
What does that mean? That means that every day, starting on your Sunday night to Monday morning sleep, you will accrue 7 hours of sleep daily. You will begin scoring yourself for this weekly challenge on Tuesday when you record your score for Monday and finish scoring yourself the following Monday when you are scoring yourself for Sunday (the sleep that you got from Saturday night to Sunday morning).
- If you don’t get a full 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep, you may accumulate the remainder during the day with a nap
- You may count the beginning of your night’s sleep when you turn off the lights
- Suggested practice: don’t use your bed for watching TV or reading. If you train your mind that the bed is where you go to fall asleep, you are more likely to fall asleep more easily.
- Suggested practice: Set a strict bedtime and stick to it. Don’t let your shows stop you — Tivo them!
- Suggested practice: If you can, don’t set an alarm and sleep until you wake. You may be surprised to find just how much sleep your body needs!
- Suggested practice: Start exposing yourself to less artificial light as the evening progresses. Blue light that is emitted by artificial light signals daytime to your brain.
- Suggested practice: Practice meditation or mindfulness right before going to bed to “cool” your brain off before trying to sleep.
- Post your experiences in the Weekly Challenge #4 forum to get support!
Get 7 hours of sleep each day next week and earn 2 bonus points!