Sleep, the New Frontier
Amazing that something so basic and so innate to our existence turns out to be such a hassle to so many of us. In the recent article in the WSJ.com, “When Sleep Leaves You Tired“, it presents a technical solution to help those in need with sleeping, see below. But in summary, our nation does a dismal job of sleeping and many of us who think we get enough sleep – fail to do so:
(excerpt)
“Twenty percent of Americans sleep less than six hours a night, and nearly one-third have lost sleep worrying about financial concerns, according to the National Sleep Foundation, which recommends that adults get seven to nine hours. “Our society thinks sleep is for slackers,” says Darrel Drobnich, the organization’s chief program officer. But all that lost sleep is taking an insidious toll. Chronic, inadequate sleep raises the risk of cardiovascular disease, depression, diabetes and obesity. It impairs cognitive function, memory and the immune system and causes more than 100,000 motor-vehicle accidents a year. Sleep deprivation also changes the body’s metabolism, making people eat more and feel less satisfied.”
(end of excerpt)
And just logging the necessary 7-8 hours of sleep isn’t necessarily enough. It’s about quality of sleep too:
(excerpt)
“What many people don’t realize is that even if they log respectable time in bed (known as TIB among sleep researchers), they may be getting poor-quality sleep, with not enough of the restorative phases. REM, the Rapid Eye Movement phase in which dreaming occurs, is crucial for consolidating memories, learning, creativity, problem-solving and emotional balance. Deep, or slow-wave sleep, when the body secretes human growth hormone, is critical for development and physical repair. Both REM and deep sleep decline with age and are highly vulnerable to disruptions, from caffeine and alcohol to anxiety and a variety of sleep disorders. What many people don’t realize is that even if they log respectable time in bed (known as TIB among sleep researchers), they may be getting poor-quality sleep, with not enough of the restorative phases. REM, the Rapid Eye Movement phase in which dreaming occurs, is crucial for consolidating memories, learning, creativity, problem-solving and emotional balance. Deep, or slow-wave sleep, when the body secretes human growth hormone, is critical for development and physical repair. Both REM and deep sleep decline with age and are highly vulnerable to disruptions, from caffeine and alcohol to anxiety and a variety of sleep disorders.”
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I think most people would agree that they don’t get enough sleep and I would definately include myself in that category. If you are on the fence on whether or not you fall into that group, check out this quick quiz to see if you have the traits of a bad sleeper. One technical solution to this is a product called the Zeo Personal Sleep Coach. Essentially it’s a device that logs important biometric data on your sleep, while you sleep of course, and you can upload the data on www.myzeo.com. Again this is further proof that we are about to enter a new era of remarkable home/personal technology that will be marked by an explosion of personal biometric data. See my recent blog post on evidenced based personal wellness statistics.
I’m not going to say that you need to go out and immediately buy fancy gadgetry to get a better nights rest. I am the ideal example of someone who drinks too much caffeine, juggles maybe a bit too much, and spends too much time staring a nice bright LCD (writing blogs like this). But I know what works for me…and a reasonable diet and consistent exercise goes a long way. For many of us working out close to bed time will affect our sleep (see When is the Best Time of the Day to Run) so maybe you can try getting your workout in earlier in the day. I am a big fan of the short intense lunch time workout. 30-45 minutes doing intervals, a fast 2 miler, or doing some circuit training will not only get you through the rest of the day faster but it will also help you sleep better at night. It will reduce your craving for carbs and caffeine as you’ll be riding the endorphins high from your short intense workout. Please make sure you are healthy enough for any kind of intense aerobic/anaerobic activity.
If working out at lunch is not an option, try and get your workout right after work and what I recommend is some structured experimenting. Try the Quick Entry log on www.fivi.com (there is a link right on the homepage and you don’t have to be registered to try it). There you can log 100′s of different exercises, sports, and activities. If you don’t find it, you can write in your own and just pick the most similar exercise. On your Fit Blog you can keep track of how you feel every morning and how long you think it took for you to fall asleep. Eventually, you’ll figure out what kinds of workouts and just how intense of a workout you can do to get the optimal night’s rest. For some people it may be a target number of minutes they have to workout, for me it’s a target number of calories I need to burn. Maybe for you, running makes you sleep like a baby but weight training turns you into the incredible hulk. Eventually you will figure it out and it will become obvious after the first week. At that point, it’ll be up to you to stick to your regimen.
