Thursday, February 16, 2012

Sleep the Soreness Away

For the past couple of weeks my sleeping habits have been terrible!  Normally I like to be in bed by 10 pm and then wake up at 7 am (on work nights) which means nine solid hours of sleep.  Recently I read that you should time your sleep by sleep cycles.  A full sleep cycle is around 90 minutes so you should set your alarm for 7.5 or 9 hours from the time you get into bed.  If you aim to get up as a sleep cycle is ending (and hence not in deep sleep) then you will feel the most refreshed. 

Recently my average bedtime has been ranged between 10 and Midnight and it seems like more often than not it's closer to 11 if not a bit after.  I'd say that in the past couple of weeks, I've "lost" 10 hours of sleep!  However, I'm happy to report that last night I got into bed at 8 am and woke up at 6 am.  It was glorious.  Although I got up during the middle of a sleep cycle, I was trying to go for maximum hours asleep as possible. 

So we all know that sleep isn't just about resting - it's also about recovery and repair.  When I do my kettle bells classes, when I run, when I swim, when I do anything like that, I'm tearing down my muscles to a degree.  By getting proper sleep, I can help facilitate their growth and repair.  That said, what's going on with me because I haven't been getting my normal amounts of sleep?  I've been sore.  Very sore.  Constantly.  It's Thursday and I am still aching from a kettle bells class that I took on Monday. 

I emailed my kettle bells instructor because I was getting concerned about my soreness and he wrote me back with some nutritional info (I will share later) in addition to mentioning sleep.  He said to "make sure you are getting enough sleep - even more than enough."

I found a link to dozens of articles about sleep - click here.  I really liked this one

It doesn't take a genius to know that we need adequate sleep.  Unfortunately, my sleeping habits haven't been too smart.  I'm hoping to turn them around so I can feel better both physically and mentally!

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