Sleep Is The Secret To Working Out Like Athletes

Sleep is one of the five main components necessary to lead a healthy and long life. Ideally we require 7-8 hours of sleep per night—but this number varies from person to person. For instance, athletes may need upto 10 hours as they undergo tremendous mental and physical strain which makes sleep even more important to help the body heal itself. But they aren’t the only ones who need sleep for recovery and rejuvenation; irrespective of our career choices optimum sleep, minimum 7 hours a night, is essential for all of us.?

Before we move towards why we need this much sleep, let's take a look at the stages of sleep.

Stages Of Sleep And Its Benefits On The Mind And Body

The body goes through 4 stages of sleep. Three of these come under NREM (non rapid eye movement) sleep and the last stage is REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. The standard 8 hours of sleep means four to five sleep cycles. These cycles start with NREM stage 1,2 and 3 then move to REM sleep, going right back to NREM stages. Each of these sleep stages have certain benefits for the body and mind.

1. NREM 1: In the first stage of sleep the body starts relaxing and has physiological changes such as slowing of brain waves, heartbeat, breathing, and eye movements, as well as relaxation of muscles. In this stage you can be easily awoken.
2. NREM 2: The second stage is also characterized as light sleep, but the body slowly relaxes further and there is also lowering of the body temperature and the eyes stop moving. The brain waves have sudden spikes in activity known as sleep spindles which are known to improve memory and learning. Throughout the night, adults will spend 45-55% of their time in these 2 stages.
3. NREM 3: This is the deep sleep stage. We spend about 13-23% of our sleep time in this stage. Heartbeat and breathing are at their lowest levels and our muscles are completely relaxed. It is difficult to wake up a person during this stage and we are unresponsive to external stimuli such as noise, movement and light. In this stage the body goes through restoration and rejuvenation. It releases human growth hormone (HGH), which plays a vital role in cellular repair. Other functions include flushing away all the built up waste, repairing and regrowing tissues, building bones and muscles, strengthening the immune system and improving declarative memory. The longest deep sleep periods occur in the start of the night and are progressively replaced by the shorter NREMs and REM sleep.
4. REM: Though REM sleep may be associated with dreaming it has a multifold function for our mental health. This stage accounts for about 20-25% of our night, with the steady increase in duration closer to when we wake up. This is why we often remember our dreams in the morning. This stage of sleep facilitates our cognitive and emotional processing. To know more about REM sleep, read the previous edition of my newsletter here .

The Link Between Sleep and Performance

It doesn’t matter if you are a trained athlete, a marathon runner, a weight lifter or someone who is just venturing into the world of fitness, sleep is a vital tool that can aid your performance .

1. Endurance sports like running or swimming can leave you drained mentally and physically. Getting proper rest stimulates your body's regenerative abilities, strengthens your bones and clears your mind.
2. Weight training targets your specific muscles which go through continuous wear and tear when you do them frequently. If you are aiming to develop your muscles, sleep is important as it activates the growth hormone which repairs muscles, bones, promotes the oxidation of fat and stimulates muscle memory—which is key for building new muscles.
3. Memory and sleep go hand in hand, especially procedural and motor skills. Athletic events require memory of the tasks that you’re doing to improve your performance. When you are asleep your brain refines the neural pathways that allow you to master the things necessary to achieve peak performance. Sleep also improves learning and remembering ability as evidenced by the weakening of the smaller synapses, which removes all unwanted information while the large synapses are unchanged and preserved which are the basis of resilient memory.
4. Poor sleep can also affect performance, agility, and reaction time. Proper sleep can enhance your performance in sports. Research suggests that runners who are deprived of sleep have reduced glycogen levels, which affects their performance and perception of stress. Poor sleep also affects the brain and its neural pathways. This can reduce your reaction time and agility, which can also make you more prone to injury.
5. Poor sleep also makes you more prone to illness. It can contribute to illnesses due to impaired immune functioning and can also cause chronic, low-grade inflammation. Inflammation can also bring about various diseases and also impair the body’s ability to repair muscles, tissue and tendon damage.
6. Your mood is also highly dependent on the quality of sleep. Lack of sleep can increase chances of developing depression and anxiety. Not to mention poor sleep also makes us more irritable and reactive which can hamper our ability to perform. Sleep can also promote positive feelings like motivation, improve social behavior (needed in team sports), and also help in reducing stress levels. The mind plays a vital role in how we view our exercise sessions as well, something which I have talked about extensively in my book ‘At The Human Edge’ and in this edition of my newsletter as well.

Measure Your Sleep To Know What To Improve

I always say you can’t treat what you can’t measure. And sleep is no different. There exists a plethora of devices—including smartwatches like the Fitbit and Apple Watch amongst others, as well as dedicated devices like the Oura Ring—that help you track your sleep. They allow you to measure your sleep duration, quality, phases and much more so that you get a sense of just how well or poorly you’re sleeping each night. The resultant data can help you understand whether or not you got enough restorative, deep sleep at night, how often you were tossing and turning at night, and other patterns—thus allowing you to develop better sleep habits.?

Biohacks To Improve Your Sleep for Better Performance

There are some things you can do to ensure you get those much needed Zs, thus improving your athletic prowess.?

1. Pay attention to your sleep environment: Make sure your room has the ideal temperature of about 18 degrees. Your room should have comfortable and appropriate bedding and pillows to support your body. There should be no disturbances in terms of noise and light, especially from notifications from your gadgets. It is best to keep your gadgets in a different room.
2. Break up with blue light before bed: Blue light, which is emitted by gadgets like phones, laptops, TVs etc,? can also affect your sleep routine. This light disrupts your circadian rhythm, making it difficult to fall asleep at night. Switch off all devices at least one hour before you sleep. In the evenings if you are watching TV, working, or using your phone, you must use blue-light blocking glasses that can save you from the exposure.?
3. Maintain a sleep routine: Try to maintain a routine that lets your body know it is bedtime. This can include distancing yourself from gadgets, taking a short walk, reading, brushing your teeth and so on at a specific time every night. After a few days of following this routine diligently, your brain will associate these activities with sleep, giving your body the signals that it’s time to retire.?
4. Eat right at night: To maintain your sleep schedule, it is important to eat a healthy but light dinner at least three hours before you go to bed. This will allow the food to get digested properly and help you avoid any gastric issues and metabolic fluctuations during the night. Avoid consuming caffeine and alcohol in the evening as these disrupt the quantity and quality of sleep.
5. Skip intense workouts in the evening: The rush of adrenaline can make it difficult to fall asleep, affecting your quality of sleep. Schedule intense workout sessions in the morning to boost energy and also to soak up some vitamin D. Lighter exercises in the evening hours like stretching, yoga, and meditation can be beneficial for your physical and mental health, while also aiding sleep.

Optimize Your Sleep & Boost Your Health

If you’re wondering what else you can do to assist your wellbeing, understand it better, and lead a healthy life, visit humanedge.co .?

This newsletter is part of our ongoing series.