Sleep after nutrition might be one of the most overlooked aspects of your health and fitness. It is the best "supplement" for improving your performance in the gym. It is also very easy to write off. The excuses range from I don't have time to well I have kids. They even go as far as justifying not sleeping by saying my body functions great on 5 hours of sleep!
A good night of sleep will help you recover better than any supplement you can take. The bonus to a good night of sleep is it cost you nothing and only takes you making it a priority. So how much sleep do we need and what are some good strategies to get better sleep? Lets take a deeper look.
You should be looking to get at least 7 hours of sleep per night and it would be even better if you got 8. The first step to being able to get 7+ hours of sleep per night is making it a priority and setting aside time to sleep no matter what. If you have to be up by 6 then you better be sure that you are getting in bed by at least 11. For most of us we want to be in bed even before that because it most likely will take some time for us to fall asleep. Whatever time it is the goal is to make that consistent for each day. If you do this long enough it will help you fall asleep quicker because your body will know that 9 is bedtime everyday.
Now once you have decided to prioritize sleep how do we make sure that we are actually getting in good quality sleep? The first important thing you can do is shut off your devices at least an hour before bed time. The second is how you set up your bedroom. It should be as dark as possible. This means limiting the amount of devices that have lights on them and getting blackout shades if it helps keep the room dark in the morning.
Sleep allows the body to recover and is often overlooked. Make it a priority and it will help you improve performance more than any supplement you take.
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