Want To Sleep Better? Stop Worrying About It!
On average, you sleep 7 hours and 50 minutes per night. Considering that life expectancy for countries in the Western world is about 80 years — you’ll spend 26.6 years of your life asleep.
That’s almost 1/3 of your time on this planet. And yet, we feel tired so often. Just look at the person sitting next to you at the office, on the couch, or at Starbucks.
It’s also not a wonder we’re tired. We fill our lives with activities, work, and pleasure. Things that make us feel alive.
However, we need energy to make it through our days without being grumpy or not feeling down. Yes, caffeine will help you energize when you’re tired, but the energy boost doesn’t last long.
Our largest source of energy comes from sleep — we depend on it. That’s why we’re obsessed with “sleep hacks” and listicles that promise us to sleep like a third grader that has nothing to worry about. Who doesn’t want that?
How sleep deprivation can effect your workout
Lack of sleep= poor workout?
Your fitness routine is in full swing two months into the year: You’re eating right and you’re exercising, but you’re not yet seeing the results you want from your workout.
What’s missing? It might be sleep.
So say an increasing number of studies that show sleep deprivation causing such negative outcomes as weight gain, an increase in overuse injuries, a decrease in muscle mass and a reduction in testosterone (which has a whole host of other negative effects, including low sex drive, depression and bone loss).
“You can have two people who are doing the exact same workout and eating the same good nutrition, but one is seeing huge progress and the other isn’t. A lot of the time, good sleep is the difference,” says Mansur Mendizabal, a personal trainer and kettlebell instructor in Washington.
“Sleep is the only time the body is fully recovering and rebuilding,” he says.
In other words, it’s not enough to take a day or two off from training and slouch on the couch and expect good results. It’s sleep — specifically deep sleep — that is the difference when it comes to such things as muscle recovery, mental acuity and reaction time, another important aspect of sports performance.
“It’s during the deep stages of sleep that all the tissues of the body repair,” says John Broussard, a sports medicine doctor in Washington. “But you have to get into all the stages of sleep in the proper sequence to get those restorative benefits.”
There are four parts of the sleep cycle: Stage 1 (near-awake), Stage 2 (onset of sleep), Stage 3 (deep and restorative sleep) and Stage 4 (deep REM or dream state), which occurs at about 90 minutes into each cycle.
To read the rest of this sleep related article, click here:
http://www.miamiherald.com/living/health-fitness/article66082812.html
You can buy CPAP Machines, tubing and all of your CPAP supplies at CPAP America, 707 Mantua Pike, West Deptford, NJ 08096. Feel free to contact us at 1-800-569-0167.
You can also reach us via email here.
What you need to know about getting better sleep
We sleep every day. We’ve been doing it all our lives. So, why wouldn’t we assume we know all there is to know about getting the best sleep?
9 Best Ways to Get a Good Night’s Sleep
Designing a beautiful bedroom is one thing. Designing one that’s conducive to a good night’s sleep is another. That’s where Dr. Helene Emsellem—medical director of the Center for Sleep & Wake Disorders in Chevy Chase and a 30-year sleep-medicine veteran—comes in. Here’s a conversation with her.
Daylight Savings Time Is this weekend, so sleep more!
Daylight savings time returns this weekend, but for many workers, its advent comes at a price: days or even weeks of tiredness brought on by the shift forward in time.
Sleep Better Tonight By Making These Four Changes
It’s no secret that sleep is incredibly important. Besides providing the energy and focus to tackle our workdays, a good night’s sleep can result in decreased risk of inflammatory conditions like heart disease, increased memory function, a better mood, and even a longer life. But try as we might to get enough sleep, it’s easier said than done. So, in honor of National Sleep Awareness Week, we’re determined to change our sleep habits for the better. We tapped the brain of Shawn Stevenson, creator of The Model Health Show podcast and author of Sleep Smarter (out March 15), to find out simple strategies to hit the hay more soundly tonight and beyond.
Curb the Caffeine
For many of us, caffeine—and coffee in particular—is a gift. But, it’s also one of the major culprits in sleep disturbance. “It’s easy to forget that caffeine is a very powerful nervous system stimulant,” says Stevenson, adding that ingesting caffeine even as much as six hours before bed is enough to create measurable disturbance in our sleep cycles. Don’t panic, you don’t need to kick the habit entirely, but Stevenson suggests curbing it to before noon only. If you need a pick me up later in the day, he suggests going for a quick power walk or having a conversation with a good friend, both of which can release endorphins and leave you feeling more awake with no side effects later in the night.
Go With Your Gut
What we eat can dramatically impact sleep. According to Stevenson, that’s because our gut is filled with neurotransmitters, similar to the brain, that control the secretion of hormones like serotonin and melatonin. So a balanced microbiome can mean more balanced sleep. To keep our guts happy, Stevenson suggests eating organic, locally grown, and unprocessed foods for the bulk of our diet, as well as eating three to five servings of foods that contain what he calls “good sleep nutrients,” or nutrients that have been associated with sleep disruptions when deficient, such as Vitamin C, potassium, and omega-3s.
To read the rest of this sleep related article, click here:
http://www.instyle.com/news/how-to-sleep-better
You can buy CPAP Machines, tubing and all of your CPAP supplies at CPAP America, 707 Mantua Pike, West Deptford, NJ 08096. Feel free to contact us at 1-800-569-0167.
You can also reach us via email here.
Can lack of sleep lead to the munchies?
Lack of sleep: pot smokers munchies?
People who don’t get enough sleep may pack on the pounds because they’ve got the munchies — the same munchies that pot smokers say they get, researchers said Monday.
An experiment aimed at explaining why people overeat after a poor night’s sleep suggests that food becomes much more appealing, and that the brain’s own marijuana-like chemicals are responsible.
Should you sleep more or less during Winter season?
Do you have the winter blues? Or is it something else?
Snowy days, warm beds, cold nights and dark mornings make it easy to linger in bed. According to data collected by an app called Sleep Cycle, the urge to sleep more during the winter is common. Many adults report feeling sluggish and tired during the winter. But does this mean you actually need more sleep during the winter, or is a sign of something else?
Was the death of Justice Scalia sleep apnea related?
Was sleep apnea a factor in Justice Scalia’s death?
The days after Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died at a Texas hunting ranch were marred with confusion and speculation. The Presidio County Sheriff’s Office released an incident report late Tuesday night in response to a records request made by The Washington Post.
Here are the most striking details from it:
Sleep apnea may increase risk of kidney disease
Can sleep apnea lead to kidney disease?
Having sleep apnea may increase the risk of chronic kidney disease, according to a report from Taiwan.
