Month: March 2021

Sleep – so essential to our overall health and performance, and yet so neglected and overlooked by many Americans… athletes included.  An estimated 2/3 of the global adult population fail to achieve the WHO recommended standard 8 hours of sleep – which has negative consequences on all the body’s tissues over time.  Here is why it’s important:

Sleep and overall health

For starters: immune system suppression.  4-6 hours of sleep a night supports just half of the bodies’ production of virus antibodies (think COVID-19).  Adults who average just 6 hours of sleep or less each night are 3 times as likely to suffer cardiac arrest or stroke in their lifetime.  For middle and upper-age adults, increasing amount of normal uninterrupted deep NREM sleep has been found to delay the potential onset of Alzheimers disease or dementia by 5-10 years.  And it’s not just adults. Early school start times (often dependent on parent’s early work shift hours) are completely out of phase with the circadian sleep rhythms of adolescent bodies (ex: ages 14-20), and may be linked to ADHD and even mental illness onset.  Even teenagers need closer to 9 hours of sleep during puberty.  Early school and work start times also lead to a sharp rise in emergencies during the afternoon ‘danger window’ without parental supervision, including drowsy driving fatalities.

Sleep and athletic performance

Just as athletes need more calories than most people, they also need more sleep (both REM and non-REM for overall recovery).  Poor sleep elicits lower levels of testosterone and other growth and recovery hormones, and also reduces the threshold for pain.  Sleep studies on Stanford athletes have proven greater amounts of sleep to yield faster sprint times across multiple sports, along with significant increases in time to exhaustion.  Along with athletes, NASA has realized the power of on-duty naps with their astronauts since the early 90s; and the U.S. Army now advocates daytime naps as part of their new Holistic Health & Fitness programs.  Even naps as short as 15-20 minutes have been found to increase recovery growth hormone production, and restore physical awareness and motor memory function.

Tips to improve sleep (STAY AWAY FROM SLEEPING PILLS!)

• Limit alcohol intake, which has more of a sedation effect – causing multiple REM sleep disruptions which leads to poor recovery along with more fatigue and memory loss the next day

• Sleep in a cool environment between 57-67 F after a hot bath or shower before bed; allow head, hands and feet to protrude out from underneath covers and use a fan if necessary

• Avoid evening exercise and caffeine at least 4 hours before bedtime, both of which often delay the onset of sleep

• Reduce exposure to blue LED (short-wave) lights, which suppresses melatonin levels in the body, delaying sleep onset and reducing REM recovery sleep
• Nap at every opportunity – even before an athletic competition (ex: 90 minutes before).  This will encourages Stage 2 REM sleep that also accelerates learning and motor memory function

NOTE: Be sure to read our earlier blog on Sleep at: https://workoutstructure.com/blog/sleepandexercisetiming/

–CHRIS BORGARD