As a member of our coaching team here at Performance Health & Fitness, my goal for you all is to learn about all the individual tools that can help you to become the best version of yourself.
Some of you may come to me with a particular goal that you have in mind that you want to work on but my goal is to help you look at the bigger picture which is the long-term goal.
An ideal long-term goal for all of us I would think would be to obtain a high-quality, long-lasting life so that our body does not become our limiting factor. In order to obtain that goal, we would need to complete daily habits that are absolutely necessary to allow our body to perform at its best and one of those is to make sure that we are getting enough sleep.
This is such a hot topic in my household since my significant other and I don’t see eye to eye on this, but I try to do my best to let him know the facts behind why we need to be getting 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Now don’t get me wrong, I have an 11-month-old at home so I understand that during the newborn stages or certain situations it was normal for me to not get the sleep I needed, but now that he is sleeping through the night it is imperative that I get anywhere between 7-8 hours of sleep per night for me to perform my best. Without it, I am just like everyone else where I can’t wait for a nap, need more caffeine during the day to keep me going, have mental fog or just be less productive in general.
Some would say that your body could “get used to not sleeping that much”, which is true, but that’s not necessarily healthy for someone to continue to do long-term. Chronic sleep deprivation could lead to physical and mental issues, loss of productivity, and in certain situations even death.
Across the lifespan, the amount of sleep that your body needs will change. For babies and young ones, adequate sleep is necessary for their development and their changing bodies. For young adults, it’s interesting that their hormone levels actually spike later in the day so they tend to go to bed later in the day and sleep in later in the morning. Adults don’t tend to need naps anymore like the younger generations with enough sleep but when they are deficient they may notice that they are tired, restless, irritable, easily frustrated, unable to concentrate, and are looking for a time when they can take a quick nap.
Tips and Tricks to better sleep
- Turn off all electronics 2 hours before bed.
- Do something to help relax you during your bedtime routine such as meditate, take a hot shower, read or yoga.
- Go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time every day to help reset your clock.
- Buy a FitBit or Apple Watch to help monitor your sleep so you can make sure that your body goes through the full cycles.
- If all of this doesn’t help, then set up an appointment to go and see a sleep specialist to help you.
Want to learn more about sleep? Feel free to check out this in-depth article from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute >>
This article helps to explain the different cycles of sleep, the necessity of sleep and why, but also how much sleep people should be getting over the lifespan. As always, if you need someone to help hold you accountable don’t hesitate to schedule a health coaching session with me for us to figure out why you aren’t able to get the sleep your body needs to flourish.
Happy Sleeping!
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