Sleep Is Training!
I've written about sleep in the past, but want to highlight it again as so many more athletes are now wearing devices that can track their sleep trends fairly well. And as a coach, I want to know these numbers. It's now easier than ever to "be aware" of our sleep, so let's refocus on why it's important and the do's and don'ts.
There's plenty of news, articles and interviews of elite athletes and teams prioritizing sleep. And there are more and more studies that highlight the benefit of sleep. But I feel it's important to re-highlight just how important it is, how we can improve it and how we can avoid negatively impacting it.
Here's a thought for many of us:
Sleep isn't what we do between the training but rather where the training actually turns into fitness.
The work breaks us down, and sleep is when the body rebuilds, the hormones do their job and the brain files away the skills we practiced. If sleep is diminished, so was the training we did earlier in the day.
In 18 years of Navy flying, crew rest was super important, but often times minimal at best when we were operational at sea (remember, I wasn't in the Air Force - in my hotel with a mini fridge...Air Force...). And when I didn't get good sleep, it was obvious. So when I got a bit older, I understood the impact bad sleep had and knew my training deserved that attention. But it wasn't until I started tracking trends with my watch that I found out how daily bad habits really impacted quality sleep for myself.
So what does that look like for those of us juggling jobs, families and 5 a.m. alarms? Here are six things that can make the biggest difference:
Consistency
Consistency comes first - going to bed and, even more, waking up at about the same time every day, weekends included, does more for sleep quality than anything we can buy. This is tough! If we're traveling, have young kids, or have a dynamic job, it's hard to nail down. But keep at it!
Sleep Hours
Enough hours is the second piece, and for athletes in real training that usually means 8 or more rather than the 7 we tell ourselves is fine. When a night comes up short, a 20-30 minute nap in the early afternoon is a legitimate training tool, not a luxury. OK, must of us struggle with this. But here's the thing: if we keep getting 5-6 hours, and we're training 8+ hours a week, we slowing our fitness gains...period. We've got to try and get the sleep hours up.
Set and Setting
A cool, dark, quiet room helps us fall asleep and stay there - think mid-60s (although Jennifer and I like mid-50s even better), blackout curtains and the phone charging somewhere other than the nightstand. I can sleep with all the windows open and a full moon (see "at sea" above), but Jennifer is more typical requiring a darker setting. All of us have different preferred temps and covers. The important thing to remember is that for good sleep, the body needs to lower it's core temp.
Caffeine
Caffeine has a longer tail than most of us realize (with a half life of 5 hours!), so a cutoff by early afternoon is a good rule for most athletes. And that evening glass of wine that feels relaxing tends to cost us deep sleep later in the night. Don't believe me? Track it. I'm willing to bet you're resting HR goes up 3-5 beats and your Deep Sleep goes down after just one glass.
Routine
A wind-down routine of 30-60 minutes - lights low, screens off, maybe a little stretching or a book - tells the body the day is done rather than asking it to go from inbox to asleep in five minutes. I'm a total failure here - I'm on the phone reading or watching YouTube. What we can do, though, is get a set of Blue Light glasses and wear them from the time we start winding down until we put the laptop, tablet or smartphone down. This will help us negate some of the negative influences screen time has on our sleep.
Timing of Workouts
The timing of our hard sessions and fueling matters too, since late-evening intervals and going to bed under-fueled both leave us wired. Where we can, we put intensity earlier in the day and finish with a real recovery meal. This is tough for many of us who train after work. Just be cognizant of how this may delay our sleep and do the other things listed above really well.
So, these are all things we know, or mostly know, but life gets in the way and can mess these up. That's OK! First thing is to be aware of our habits, and we do that by tracking what we're doing. The next step is to control what we can and prioritize them.
The final thing, of course, is to not go overboard (not that any endurance athlete would do that!) Use common sense and still enjoy life (that means for many an occasional glass of wine). Don't let the "numbers" define everything. Look for trends and be self-aware.
The best part is that sleep? It's the one piece of training none of us has to be talented at! We just have to prioritize and protect it.
Sleep isn't the break from training. It is training!
Gratefully,
Mark
Team MPI
