Put Your Phone Away

I hope by this point in time we all understand the importance of sleep and the role it plays in your recovery.

Athlete or not, sleep is the number one time when your body recovers from stress and activity from the day. The only way your body will use sleep to it's fullest potential is if you treat it with the respect it deserves. Before I explain what I mean by that, lets learn what sleep is.

There are four stages in the sleep cycle. They are; Stage 1 - NREM, Stage 2 - NREM, Stage 3 - NREM, Stage 4 - REM (https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/12148-sleep-basics) Stage 1 - NREM is the lightest sleep. You have just fallen asleep and this stage only lasts for a few minutes. Then you move into Stage 2 - NREM. This is still a light sleep, it is also where a majority of your time asleep will be since you will cycle through the last 2 stages. The next is Stage 3 - NREM. This is where things start to get interesting. Stage 3 - NREM is also referred to as deep sleep. Deep Sleep is where your body does its magic and repairs injuries, repairs muscle, and reinforce your immune system. The next stage is Stage 4 - REM (Rapid Eye Movement). This is where dreaming takes place and your brain activity is similar to when you are awake. (https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/12148-sleep-basics)

Now that we understand what sleep is, we can dive into treating it with respect.

You cannot live life, especially a healthy one, if you lack sleep. Obviously there will be times that you are not able to get 8 hours of sleep due circumstances out of your control. That is not what I am advocating for here. What I am telling you is that sleep needs to become a priority for you. Learn from my mistakes.

Lately I was staying up until midnight and then waking up at 4am to start my days. I began to feel very fatigued, my runs became harder, weights became heavy that used to be light, and my body weight was all over the place. Now, I have started to respect sleep and get, on average an hour more of sleep. I feel more alert, workouts are doing better, and I am performing. There is still room to grow and there always will be room to grow.

This is what I did to start respecting sleep:

1. Put my phone away 1 hour before I go to sleep. Your phone emits blue light which impacts your brain's ability to fall asleep. Putting your phone away will help your brain start to turn off and go into sleep mode.

2. Eat my last meal 2-3 hours before bed. If you eat too close to bed, your body will be internally awake to process the food you consumed. Eating your last meal early will help your internal organs start to rest.

3. Set a bed time and stick to it. I do my best to be in bed and asleep by 9pm to wake up at 4am. that is 7 hours of sleep which feels good for me. Set a bedtime and stick to it.

Your body needs sleep more than you know. Treat it with respect and start by putting your phone away. TikTok will still be there tomorrow.