In appointments, I tend to bang on to patients about how important sleep is. Lots of people realise at a superficial level it is important because we have all had that late night and felt tired or irritable the next day. But over time a sleep deficit can cause longer term problems to our general health and recovery from injuries.
The sleep we get between 10pm and 2am are key for repair. This is repair from injury, from day to day functioning of our bodies and organs creating free radicals which can be unhelpful lingering in our body. This time is optimum for beneficial hormone secretion such as growth hormone which is key in repair and growth or adaptation from exercise. A one-off night of poor sleep results in reduction of healing capabilities so over a consistent picture of repeated nights of low sleeping hours will magnify this.
Sleeping for more hours, the current recommended amount is between 7-8 hours, allows more sleep cycles including deeper more restorative period of sleep.
There are some severe issues affecting sleep and this often needs to be supported by a medical professional but if you are someone that recognises you have poor sleep habits but not due to a medical issue then some of these tips may be helpful to you and help you recover from injury, feel more refreshed and alert day to day.
Tips for healthy sleep:
Wake up at the same time every day – work out what time that means you need to go to bed each night. Often waking the same time every day helps create a bed time because if you aren’t having lie-ins (to make up for the missed sleep) then you can have a wake up and a bed time. As an early morning runner, I have quite consistent wake up routine, evenings have been more difficult just because having children and wanting some ‘grown-up’ time means my bed time slightly changes.
Reduce caffeine intake after midday or, if you think you are particularly sensitive to it, after 10am. After 6 hours of consuming caffeine half of it is still present in the body. 10 hours later it may not have cleared entirely. I love a good coffee. I now limit myself to two cups in the morning before midday. I don’t think I am particularly sensitive to caffeine so I don’t seem to get affected by a late morning one. But I do know people that have one cup on waking and that is it!
Avoid screens for an hour before bed time – try not to use your phone, computer or TV. Give your brain a break from that rapid movement, flickering lights, constant feed. Also the light from screen acts like daylight on our brains and helps it believe it is daylight and time to still be awake. This can then have an effect on melatonin production which then effects getting off to sleep and remaining asleep. I find this one can be particularly difficult because I like to watch films and series in the evening. What I have found though is if I give myself 45 mins of screen free time before bed, by prep for bed and then reading I can manage that.
Limit alcohol – I like a drink in an evening but what I personally found was that if I had a glass of wine several nights in a row (and I am talking a 175ml size, not consuming excessive) I was waking during the night for no particular reason. When I made the connection and reduced it so only had a glass or two at the weekend my sleep improved significantly. But what I did notice is it wasn’t immediate. I stopped drinking for Dry January and I would say it took a good week or so to consistently have better nights sleep. So, don’t immediately assume that because you didn’t see a difference two nights in that it isn’t the alcohol. Hang on in there.
Avoid or limit naps – I love this one! if only I had time for a nap!! But I think this is probably more of an issue if you are trying to organise your sleeping pattern and it is a bit all over the place. Trying to establish a routine can throw thing off a bit, so if you are working on waking at 6.30am every morning but you still go to bed at midnight this may be how you manage by napping. If so, limit the nap to less than 90 mins (ideally no more than 20-30mins) and not in the mid-afternoon.
Being physically tired is important. Do you get enough exercise or activity during the day? Are you limited by injury or illness in what activity you can do? Is there something stopping you get out for a 30 min walk or bike ride? Can you do exercise at home, a YouTube video or some resistance exercises using body weight. Anything that gets your body active through the day.
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