Training with Dylan

It's good for you. Lot's of important things happen while you sleep, your brain and body both do a clean out from the day and need the time to reset. Your brain works through all the input it received throughout the day and does a comprehensive spring cleaning to hold onto the "important" stuff and lets go of the garbage. Your body repairs cells, restores energy and releases hormones and proteins. 

When we train, the real gains happen while we are asleep. During exercise we stress the body in a healthy way by challenging it. We lift weights and break down microfibres in our muscles, then we eat protein and sleep and those fibres grow back stronger and healthier. There is a very important hormone called growth hormone which is released predominately while we sleep. If you're working out and not getting enough sleep you're likely leaving some gains on the table. Something to think about!

How do we improve our sleep? There are a few things that will contribute to sleeping deeper and more efficiently. I know that life is busy and getting the recommended 8hrs can be challenging. So here are my best tips on getting the most out of what you can get in:

Cut the afternoon caffeine 

Coffee is delicious, but cut it off after 2pm. Many people are unaware that caffeine has a half life of ~8hrs. This means that when you drink a coffee at 3pm (150mg of caffeine on average) there is still 75mg of that caffeine molecule floating around in your brain. You'll still be able to fall asleep, but having that caffeine still floating around disrupts your brain's ability to do what it needs to do while you sleep, making you wake up feeling groggy.

Keep the phone out of the bedroom 

You may have heard this before, and unfortunately it's true. It's best to leave your phone charging out on the kitchen bench and leave the bedroom for sleep. There are a couple of reasons why. First of all, if you have your phone you're likely going to just scroll mindlessly for an extra 30-60mins or more, and that time could be much better used actually sleeping. Secondly, the blue light from your screen messes with your brain chemistry. I won't go into too much depth here unless anyone would like more info, but once the sun goes down our brains/bodies naturally start to wind down, blasting Tik Toks in your eyes 10 inches from your face interrupts this process.

Dim the lights 

For a similar reason as staying off your phone, dim the lights in your house once the sun goes down. This will allow your body and mind to get ready to sleep. The bright light will disrupt this process, plus, ambient lighting is cosier anyway.

Don't workout or eat within 2hrs of bedtime 

When we work out, we're increasing our heart rate and naturally increasing our body temperature. On top of that we increase some hormone activity in the body that helps keep us alert (why you tend to feel good after a workout). Working out right before going to bed can decrease the quality of our sleep because our heart rate, temperature and healthy stress levels are still too high. It is best to workout at least 2hrs before you're going to sleep so that you have time to cool down and get a full nights rest.

It is a similar situation for late night dinners and snacking. If your body is trying to digest a big meal it will struggle to fall asleep efficiently. On top of that, eating right before sleeping can cause reflux and obesity. So, ideally we would stop eating 2hrs before bedtime and go to sleep on a semi-empty stomach. Try to also stop drinking liquid 30mins before bed, this will limit the amount of times you wake up during the night!