This is in response to a trend we are seeing in the gym with poor sleep hygiene.
Are you one of those people who can only train in the early morning before getting the kids to school, then yourself off to work, because after that, your day is full of responsibilities?
Do you lack energy and rely on the afternoon coffee or energy drink to get you through the second half of the day?
A lot of our ELEVATE members train early. It’s especially challenging to wake up when it’s dark out if you went to bed 10pm or later.
Sleep, above all other things, is your most valuable, essential recovery tool. If you don’t get enough sleep, you’re going to underperform in many areas of life.
Once you’ve fallen off your sleep routine, it’s rough trying to get your groove back.
Your pre-sleep habits and sleep environment are important:
- Put away your screens 1-2 hours before bed. This includes TV’s in the bedroom. Even if it’s your alarm clock, your phone should not be within arm reach distance.
- Stop eating and drinking anything 1-2 hours before bed. Having to get out of bed to go to the bathroom is disruptive to your sleep patterns.
- Sleep in a cool and dark room.
- Having white noise in the background is personal preference.
Separate from that list is consistency. Try to get to bed with lights out at a consistent time each night. This can be challenging for third shift workers, or alternating shift workers whose schedule can change every two to three weeks from days to night. In this scenario, having consistent times for sleep based on the current is even more important.
The main point we are trying to make here is that getting enough sleep should be your number one priority to improve and maximize your health and performance.
Trying to get more sleep on the back end, or closer to morning time, is not the answer to your sleep and energy problem.
The benefits of getting to bed on time so that you can have at least seven hours of sleep includes:
- Improved circadian rhythm – your natural “body clock.”
- Improved hormone function – melatonin and cortisol regulation.
- Improved immune system.
- Improved sleep quality from REM sleep to deep sleep.
- Improved mental and physical health related to anxiety, depression, and overall function and performance.
- Improved weight management (body composition).
- Improved productivity.
If you get to bed late and are woken up by your alarm and hit snooze or turn it off because you are trying to get more sleep, you’re attempting to catch up with your sleep at the wrong end.
What you’re doing is like mowing your lawn when your house is on fire. You’re focusing on the wrong thing.
It’s not necessarily bad to sleep in if you need it. But that’s not the long-term solution.
Quality and consistency with sleep matters. Going to bed earlier aligns with your biology and metabolism. It might take some transition time to get on track to where you want to be, so start with 15-minute increments over a certain period of time.
If you go to bed and lights are out and your head hits the pillow at 10:30pm, with a plan to wake up at 4:45am for your 5:30am training session, start going to bed at 10:15pm. Every couple of days, add another 15-minutes in front of your newly established bedtime.
Being able to carry this through the weekends sets you up for success Sunday night into Monday morning.
If you habit stack your sleep with healthy eating, you’re now reinforcing two quality habits.
If you have a consistent and demanding work life schedule, having a consistent time to go to sleep that provides you with 7-8 hours of quality sleep is going to carry over to all of the positive improvements listed above.
As Samuel L Jackson said in this children’s book, “Go the f*ck to sleep!”
As an active adult with kids and a demanding job, nothing good happens staying up late at night. If you want to be a better version of yourself, start going to bed earlier to feel your best, perform your best, and achieve your goals.