Getting good sleep is fundamental to your well-being. How can we improve our sleep and how can it benefit our mental state following a good exercise session? Let us discuss how sleep and exercise euphoria are related.
- Good Sleep and Exercise Euphoria
- Sleep Across the Lifespan
- Best Practices for Promoting Good Sleep
- 1. Maintain a Consistent Sleep Schedule
- 2. Avoid Blue Light After Sunset
- 3. Avoid Caffeine, Nicotine, and Alcohol
- 4. Do Not Eat too Late or Nap after 3pm
- 5. Decrease Your Stress Levels
- 6. Plan for some wind-down time
- 7. Take a Warm Bath Before Bed
- 8. Do Not Workout Late at Night
- 9. Take Supplements (Ask Your Doctor)
- 10. Other
- Conclusion
Good Sleep and Exercise Euphoria
As we discussed in the previous chapter, our body is constantly attempting to get back to its baseline through the process of homeostasis. Getting enough good sleep plays a fundamental role in aiding this process, and in significantly increasing the likelihood that our hormones are balanced and our mood remains stable and positive.
In contrast, if you lack healthy sleep, your body will produce greater-than-normal amounts of the hormones that are responsible for stress. This is because your body did not recover the way it should have during the night, and your energy stores were not replenished. As a result, your body produces greater amounts of cortisol and noradrenaline, hormones which function to break down healthy bodily tissue for energy and survival.
Consistently elevated levels of these stress hormones can make it difficult for your body to reach a balanced state, and will certainly sabotage your efforts to achieve the Exercise High.
I cannot overemphasize how crucial good sleep is to your physical and mental well-being. It’s something you must take very seriously. Only sleep of proper quality and quantity will help to optimize your hormonal balance, which will make room for your body to produce the maximum amount of hormones responsible for putting you in a good mood.
Rather than focusing on survival, your body will instead shift its focus toward rewarding you for supporting it in keeping it in the best shape possible. Provide your body with the rest it needs by following a sensible sleep routine, and you will be more than repaid for your diligence during your next workout!
Sleep Across the Lifespan
Sleep experts have proven that we require about 7-9 hours of slumber each night to reap the full benefits of a good night’s rest. However, the quantity and quality of sleep changes throughout our lifespan and our sleep efficiency tends to change as we age.
Our sleep efficiency refers to how long we sleep without having to wake up and would be 100% if you spent eight hours in bed and slept throughout the whole night. In terms of quantity, infants and teenagers sleep most (9-16h). Older adults sleep less (~6 h) compared to young and middle-aged adults (~8h).
Infants and Toddlers
While the brain areas that cause us to sleep are formed even before birth, the twenty-four-hour clock that regulates our circadian rhythm takes a long time to mature properly. A newborn will not exhibit evidence of being regulated by a daily rhythm until he or she is three or four months old.. As infants, we require about 14-17 hours of sleep each night, whereas toddlers require about 11-14 hours of sleep each night.
Adolescents
Throughout our adolescent years, we require about 8-11 hours of sleep each night. During our adolescent years, the goal of sleep starts to change from forming your internal master clock, including a sleep routine that sets the basis for the sleep for the rest of your life, to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of your sleep. Instead of your brain building connections, the new order of the night becomes connection optimization.
Midlife and Old Age
During our midlife and old age we require about 6-8 hours of sleep each night. It’s a myth that elderly adults require less sleep. They appear to require the same amount of sleep as younger adults, but they are simply less capable of generating that sleep. Large studies show that, older persons report requiring, and even seeking to get, the same amount of sleep as younger adults. The reason they are typically unable to achieve the same amount of sleep is due to the side effects of medication, in combination with other coexisting medical conditions.
Additionally, the strength and holding capacity of our bladder weakens as we age, which means more interrupted sleep (and a lower sleep efficiency). Thirdly, the timing of our circadian rhythm appears to change slightly. Seniors often experience a regression in sleep timing, leading to earlier and earlier bedtimes, causing an earlier release of sleep-inducing melatonin as we get older.
Best Practices for Promoting Good Sleep
Below you can find my 11 most helpful tips on how to promote sleep that will help you fall and stay asleep. I gathered these recommended practices from sleep experts, personal and client experiences, as well as through tons of reading. The only issue may be that they are general, meaning that you may benefit from more targeted advice.
1. Maintain a Consistent Sleep Schedule
Each and every day, go to bed and wake up at a similar time. We are creatures of habit, which is why we often struggle to adjust to changes in sleep patterns. For example, sleeping later on weekends will not fully compensate for a lack of sleep during the week; in fact, changing up your sleep pattern on weekends will make it more difficult to maintain a consistent sleep schedule during the workweek. So figure out a sleep schedule that gives you enough quality sleep, and that you can stick to all seven days of the week.
Tip: People frequently set an alarm for when it’s time to wake up, but not for when it’s time to sleep. But as mentioned, going to bed on time is just as important as waking up on time. So set your bedtime alarm too!
2. Avoid Blue Light After Sunset
Phone and computer screens can emit high levels of blue light, which is something you want to avoid if you are winding down your day. This is because blue light signals your body that it is daytime by decreasing the amount of melatonin that is produced within your brain. If you find yourself still using your phone or computer in the hours before bedtime, consider trying out blue-light filtering lenses. They can have amazing effects on the quality of your nightly slumber. Alternatively, just switch to reading a book before bedtime, to help your brain switch gears and get in the mood for sleep.
3. Avoid Caffeine, Nicotine, and Alcohol
as it gets closer to your bedtime. Caffeine—the stimulant that can be found in coffee, colas, certain teas, and chocolate—has a long half-life and can take up to eight hours to wear off completely. As a result, drinking a cup of coffee in the late afternoon can make it difficult to sleep at night. Nicotine is also a stimulant, causing smokers to have a less restful sleep. Furthermore, smokers frequently wake up too early in the morning as their body reacts to the absence of nicotine in their system.
Avoid alcoholic beverages within two or three hours before going to bed. Yes, having a nightcap before going to bed may help you relax, but at the cost of interfering with your sleep cycle by depriving you of REM sleep, keeping you in the lighter stages of sleep.
4. Do Not Eat too Late or Nap after 3pm
A light snack is fine, but a large meal can be harmful as it can result in indigestion, which is disruptive to sleep. Similarly, drinking too many beverages at night can cause you to get up in the middle of the night to urinate.
Naps can help you catch up on sleep, but late afternoon naps can spell trouble as they tend to disrupt your natural nighttime sleep cycle.
5. Decrease Your Stress Levels
Destress yourself in the evening by participating in meditation, or by engaging in progressive muscle relaxation. Prepare your to-do list for the following day to give your brain a chance to wind down before bed.
6. Plan for some wind-down time
Prepare your mind and body for good sleep by scheduling some wind-down time prior to bedtime. I recommend giving yourself about an hour each night.
7. Take a Warm Bath Before Bed
The drop in body temperature after getting out of the bath may help you feel sleepy, and the bath itself will help relax your body and mind and prepare you for a good night’s sleep
8. Do Not Workout Late at Night
Your body will still be working on bringing down your elevated heart rate, temperature, and breathing rate, a recovery process which interferes with trying to fall asleep. Try to complete your workout at least two hours prior to going to bed.
9. Take Supplements (Ask Your Doctor)
There are certain supplements that have been shown to help support sleep. These include L-theanine, magnesium, and CBD oil. Contact your pharmacist or family doctor prior to taking these supplements.
10. Other
If you still cannot fall asleep, get up and do something that typically helps you become more tired. If you do not know what to do, read a book (not on your phone). Should your mind still be racing and you are still having issues falling asleep, consider performing a stress management technique such as mindfulness, journaling, progressive muscle relaxation, or deep breathing.
Conclusion
I hope that this article helped to discover ways to help you improve your sleep, and subsequently enhance your exercise high. Good sleep and exercise euphoria are closely inter-related. If you want to learn more about the importance of sleep and how we can improve it, I suggest that you check out this website about my favorite sleep researcher, Matthew Walker.