The Power of Quality Sleep & Beyond

Let’s set the tone here and start by saying that sleep is the most impactful recovery modality.

We often look for other ways to speed up recovery to perform better mentally and physically, when in reality, sometimes all we need is a few nights of good solid sleep to allow our central nervous system to recharge.

Think of your body like your smartphone. Throughout the course of the day you use multiple apps and, pardon the pun, put your phone through its paces. Consequently, the battery depletes. Just like us, we have multiple daily tasks to accomplish and we’d execute these more optimally if we began the day on 100% charge. Ultimately, we’d sustain a higher level of performance for longer.

Performance is generally categorised as how well we do something physically however sleep is the saviour to mental performance too.

Great sleep helps us regulate our hunger hormones (Leptin & Ghrelin) much better.

When we’re sleep deprived, Ghrelin increases which is the hormone responsible for triggering the brain to feel hunger. Can you think back to when you had a seriously late night? Or, when you got in from a night on the town? All you want to do is eat food! This is thanks to Ghrelin.

Quality sleep suppresses Ghrelin and allows a healthy balance of Leptin and Ghrelin to be regulated in our body. Leptin is the opposite to Ghrelin whereby it signals to our brain we’re satisfied.

When we get quality sleep, we’re better decision makers. The frontal lobe of the brain is functioning better, we’re sharper, we’re at our best cognitively.

Whether we’re seeking to get into better shape or perform better in everyday life, it’s simple: poor sleep holds us back, quality sleep helps us excel.

Here’s 3 simple tips to help you get better sleep:

1. Try getting to bed 30-40 minutes earlier

If you usually have 7 hours’ sleep, getting to bed as little as 40 minutes earlier than usual can enhance sleep duration by almost 10%.

2. Have some digital downtime

Make it a rule to not go on your phone 90 minutes prior to bed. Switch off from the cyber world and take time to relax, properly.

3. Try supplementation

I use ZMA to help really maximise my sleep. Remember, sleep duration is great but 7 hours of quality sleep is better than 8 hours broken.

Written by Josh Beet

Josh is an Online Fitness Trainer & qualified Sports & Exercise Therapist Bsc (Hons)