As a fitness trainer, you would be surprised to know how much your sleep habits might impact your fitness journey. Good sleep hygiene doesn’t have a contest with nutrition or exercise when it comes to helping you achieve your fitness goals. One often thinks of sleep as that phase in which the body rests. It is that phase in which the muscles recover, the mind refreshes, and energy is regained.
In this blog we cover what sleep hygiene is, the importance it holds for your fitness, and how you can work on improving yours to get the most from your workouts.
What is Sleep Hygiene?
Sleep hygiene refers to the habits and practices that are necessary to ensure you have a good night’s sleep. These habits range from the routine with which you prepare your bed to the environment in which you sleep. Just like you pay attention to the food you eat and the exercises you do, you also need to be mindful of your sleep habits.
Importance of Sleep Hygiene
Of course, sleep is the first thing to take a hit in any busy schedule. However, poor sleep hygiene can significantly affect your ability to rest well:
- Recovery of the Muscles
This means that you are exercising and breaking up your muscle fibers. Your body will repair these fibers while you are asleep, but now they become stronger. This is considered muscle recovery, which happens mainly during deep sleep. Lack of sleep means that your body will not have ample time to repair and build up those muscles, which may slow you down. - Energy Replenishment
Working out requires a great deal of energy, and when you are asleep, your body is replenishing the energy given. Great Sleep Health leaves you primed and ready to tackle your day as energized as when you wake up with your exercise included. Lacking that, you will probably feel lethargic, unmotivated, and unable to push yourself as hard during your exercise routine. - Mental Acuity and Concentration
Even though sleep will not refresh your body, it also refreshes your brain where it needs it the most to be able to function well. If you are sleep-deprived, you might have trouble concentrating on your workout or even making decisions about your fitness plan. Good Sleep health can ensure that you maintain your mental acuteness, which in turn ensures that you can maintain consistency in your fitness routine. - Hormonal Balance
Sleep has broad impacts on the hormones that facilitate the regulation of hunger, stress, and muscle growth. For example, poor sleeping patterns encourage an increase in the hormone cortisol due to its relationship with muscle breakdown and even fat accumulation. On the other hand, deep sleep increases the production of the growth hormone, which involves repairing and developing muscles. Good Sleep health maintains the balance of these hormones at beneficial rates toward your general fitness goals.
Improving Your Sleep Hygiene
With this knowledge now, of the significance of sleep hygiene for your fitness journey, it is time to focus on practical ways you can improve upon this area of management. By taking and sticking to these habits in your daily routine, you can improve the quality of your sleep and, by extension, your performance in fitness.
1: Keep a Sleep Schedule
Hygiene concerning sleep requires you to be consistent. Trying to go to sleep and waking up at the same time every day helps to regulate your internal body clock. This will make it easier for you to fall asleep and wake up naturally. Try to maintain a regular sleeping and waking pattern, even on weekends, so that the body gets that much-needed rest.
2: Develop a Calming Bedtime Routine
Your body needs to wind down before it sleeps. A soothing pre-bedtime can turn on the light in your brain that sleeping time has come. It is as simple as reading a book taking a warm bath, or some breath exercises of relaxation. Avoid stimulating things like electronic devices or extreme television shows because your brain will not be able to relax for you to fall asleep.
3: Avoid Using Electronic Devices
Screen Use within the last hour of bedtime: the daylight coming off electronic devices will prevent your body from producing melatonin, a hormone that is meant to induce sleep. Try to minimize electronic screen use an hour before bedtime, and then use other calming activities like reading, yoga, or listening to soothing music.
4: Sleep Environment Optimization
Your sleep environment is more important to your sleep quality. Here are some tips on how to optimize your bedroom for good sleep hygiene:
Keep the room cool: A cooler temperature seems to facilitate better sleep. Try to maintain your thermostat at 60-67°F (15-19°C).
Reduce noise and light: Black-out curtains and earplugs or a white-noise machine can help to reduce any noise or light that could interrupt you.
Invest in a good mattress and pillows: Your comfort matters. You need a supportive mattress and pillows that suit your kind of sleep. This will make a big difference in sleep.
5 :Watch What You Eat and Drink
Remember that whatever you eat and drink, especially in the hours just before sleeping, can impact your Sleep health: Large meals, caffeine, and alcohol often contribute to disrupted sleep cycles, so try to hold them as close to bedtime as possible. A light snack is better anyway-say, a banana or a handful of nuts-to help improve your sleep while offering your body the nutrients it needs.Another beautiful benefit of exercise concerns sleep quality. Although regular physical activity can help you fall asleep faster, have some deeper rest, and even remember the next morning that you were in a better mood, exercising too close to bedtime can have the opposite effect. Complete your workout some hours before bedtime to ensure that your body will have time to relax by the time to sleep.
6: Stress Relief
Stress and anxiety are other common culprits that lead to poor sleep hygiene. Do you turn and toss at night? It may be time to incorporate more stress-reducing techniques into your life, as activities like yoga, meditation, or journaling calm the mind and eliminate excess thoughts that you might not fall asleep to.Keep a Sleep Schedule
Hygiene concerning sleep requires you to be consistent. Trying to go to sleep and waking up at the same time every day helps to regulate your internal body clock. This will make it easier for you to fall asleep and wake up naturally. Try to maintain a regular sleeping and waking pattern, even on weekends, so that the body gets that much-needed rest.
5: Develop a Calming Bedtime Routine
Your body needs to wind down before it sleeps. A soothing pre-bedtime can turn on the light in your brain that sleeping time has come. It is as simple as reading a book taking a warm bath, or some breath exercises of relaxation. Avoid stimulating things like electronic devices or extreme television shows because your brain will not be able to relax for you to fall asleep.
6: Avoid Using Electronic Devices
Screen Use within the last hour of bedtime: the daylight coming off electronic devices will prevent your body from producing melatonin, a hormone that is meant to induce sleep. Try to minimize electronic screen use an hour before bedtime, and then use other calming activities like reading, yoga, or listening to soothing music.
Signs of Poor Sleep Hygiene
This is a slippery slope, especially because as you focus on the hard workouts and nutrition, poor sleep habits fall through the cracks. So, knowing what to look out for will help you know when it’s time to tweak your sleep habits:
Difficulty falling or staying asleep: If you are having trouble falling asleep or keep waking up, this is just one sign that maybe you need to pay a little more attention to your sleep habits.
Waking up tired: You should wake up feeling refreshed and ready for the day. If you are constantly waking up feeling exhausted, it could be a sign that your sleep quality is poor.
Mood swings and irritability: Poor sleep can also affect your mood making you more likely to be irritable, frustrated, or even anxious and depressed.
The Bottom Line
Sleep hygiene focuses on sleep quality, not just quantity. Good sleep habits significantly impact your fitness journey.They aid muscle recovery, boost energy levels, balance hormones, and enhance focus.
Begin by making simple changes a sleep schedule, an optimized sleep environment, and decent stress management. These habits soon become second nature, aiding you in getting the quality sleep you need to crush your fitness goals.
Sleep is essential for a balanced life, not just fitness. Prioritize sleep hygiene to improve both your well-being and your workouts. Make it part of your routine and notice the transformation.
