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If you are finding it difficult to prep for a restful night sleep, try some relaxation techniques like, shun the nightly stimulants, shut down your electronics, enjoy a soak in the hot tub, eat and drink less in the evening etc.
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Sleep is a huge part of growing muscle and without it, no amount of work in the gym is going to produce the gains you deserve. So, here are some tips to help you prep for a quality night’s rest. If you are having trouble sleeping, you can try and find ways of boosting your body temperature; it will help fall asleep faster. Also, establishing a wind-down routine at the end of your busy day can make things easier for you when you jump to bed. Some of the preps you can do for a good night's rest include:
1. Enjoy A Soak In The Hot Tub New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center did a study in 2007 that showed the body temperatures tends to drop at night, starting around 10 pm and bottoming out around 5 am. Taking a hot bath or soaking in the hot tub before bed helps to rise to the body temperature to make you feel comfortable in bed, and the cooling period that follows gives you a relaxing feeling that eases you to slumberland.
The associate professor at the New York University School of Medicine, Ph.D. Joyce Walsleben recommends taking a dip in the hot tub for around half an hour or so before bed. The soak can help raise the body temperatures one or two degrees so that the cool-down period when in bed will put you in a deep slumber. Taking a shower may be less efficient but can still suffice.
You can also set the temp in the house to work around these changes in body temp - nowadays it’s quite easy with the number of smart thermos around. These adjust temp automatically, meaning you can keep your core temp at the level required.
2. Dim The Lights The body will release melatonin during the late hours of the night. Melatonin is a chemical generated to help you sleep, but it is only effective if it gets the right cues from your surroundings. Welsleben says that this is a chemical of darkness meaning it will not flow at is should if the lights are on. She recommends helping your body transitions to the dark as from 9 pm or 10 pm. A dim lighting in the bedroom can help you have the suitable mindset for a restful night.
3. Lay Out Your Clothes Establishing a nightly routine and sticking to it can help your body understand that bedtime is imminent when it reaches certain hours of the night. Ph.D. and director of the New York Sleep Disorders Institute, Gary Zammit say that people having trouble sleeping should have nightly bedtime routine that helps their brains switch to 'sleep mode.' Laying out the pajamas on the bed, brushing the teeth and hair as some of the sleep-conditioning habits that help.
4. Wear Socks To Bed Cold feet and rob you of sleep especially during the cold chilly months. Warming them up by wearing a soft pair of warmers or socks can help because it encourages better circulation of blood in your feet making you drift into sleep quickly; this is according to Ph.D., MD, Phyllis Zee of the Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University.
A quality mattress is pivotal for sleep. Generally speaking, the average mattress lasts around ten, years - not that bad when you consider you will use it over 3600 times. So, if you have an older mattress then you should consider maybe replacing it with a Tulo or other similar mattress. You’ll notice a big difference, we promise.
5. Shun Those Nightly Stimulants Avoiding caffeine hours before bed and help you find sleep easily when you jump to bed. Your last cup of joe should be around the lunchtime hours. Walsleben says that taking caffeine after the noon hours can have effects that last well into the night.
Decaf drinkers should take serious note of the following. A study done by Consumer Reports in 2007 showed that the coffee shops include various restaurants selling decaffeinated coffees have products that varied widely with some having up to 32 milligrams of caffeine per cup. That amounts to around 12 ounces of cola per cup. It may be an insignificant amount for the caffeine lovers but may present a huge problem for people who are overly sensitive.
Nicotine is yet another stimulant work avoiding. According to Joyce Walsleben, the idea of taking a relaxing smoke before bed does the opposite, it revs up the heart rate and keeps the mind alert.
6. Eat and Drink Less In The Evening Spicy snacks and large meals a few hours to bed work up the digestive system making it conflict with the rest of the body that is in a 'wind-down mode.' A nightcap or alcohol during or after dinner may cause some drowsiness, but these soon disrupt the sleep patterns later on in the night robbing you of the restorative REM sleep that will make you feel refreshed in the morning.
Taking a lot of liquids before bed may also see you up making rounds between your bedroom and the bathroom for the better part of the night. Author of The Promise of Sleep, William C. Dement, who is also MD, professor of psychiatry at Stanford University say that middle-aged and older folk are often culprits of this. He adds that taking fewer fluids hours before bed helps. Also, installing dim lighting in the bathroom can help maintain that sleepy feeling thus limit the disruption of the melatonin that is at work in your brain even as you rush to take a leak.
7. Shut Down Your Electronics Correspondence with family and friends is often a fun nightly activity with many doing it before turning in for the night. However, it is an activity that only increases the amount of tossing and turning when in bed. The light from the screens stimulates the brain to stay alert. Avoid these things a few hours before bed helps the brain to wind-down in readiness for sleep. Activities such as reading when seated in a comfortable chair or when in bed can have a positive effect.
