I love sleeping. Getting good sleep is so important and this ‘Sleep like a Champion’ infographic caught my eye. While its about Sleep tips for athletes – it’s all so true for everyone!
It normally takes me 20 seconds to fall asleep at night, perhaps even less if I’ve had a run or a bike ride during the day. Now I don’t think I can prove this but sometimes I almost know when I’m having a really good, deep sleep. I can almost feel my body repairing itself! This is a strange feeling and one which I do like when I remember it.
Thinking about it, I normally get about 7.5 hours sleep each night, so I guess this is in the right range, although I do admit that I like the idea of having a nap or a siesta in the afternoon. Not that that is ever going to happen! How about you – how many hours sleep do you get?
My friends at Casper, a start-up business that has been committed to sleep since the creation of their comfortable mattress, shared this graphic with me in hope of spreading better sleep habits to all athletes!
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My sleep tends to be short and not very deep, I get the feeling I don’t reach enough of the stage 3 sleep (or so my family tell me). It’s not easy to claim 8-10 hours to myself with the demands of family life and as I share a room with my spouse who prefers a warm light room the surroundings don’t always help. I’m thinking that naps might be the answer but then I’ve read somewhere that long naps are disruptive to sleep patterns so it seems I can’t win. Is there another infographic that helps with practical ways for those with busy lives and need to compromise to fit in the sleep we need?
For short naps try drinking a coffee (or other hot caffienated drink) and setting an alarn for 25 mins before lying down somewhere dark (I’ve done this in the car with a coat over my head, so it is possible to improvise!).
The drop in temperature after the hot drink apparently mimics Stage 2 (along with relaxing in the dark).
The caffeine kicks in around the same time as the alarm goes off to help you not just fall into a deeper sleep.
It sometimes feels like just lying still with your eyes closed for ages but if i persevere it always seems to work – i’m always asleep when the alarm goes off – whether for 20 mins or 20 secs i’m not always sure, but almost always feel better for it.