Guest Post: Get Better Sleep

Posted on Jan 29, 2009 by Andrew in General Guest Posts .

Today we’ve got a guest post from Parth Shah.

About the Author

Parth Shah is an average joe who’s tired of all the nonsense he sees in mainstream health and fitness media. His thoughts, ideas, and philosophy can be found on his website, ShahTraining.com. (Feed - http://feeds.feedburner.com/shahtraining/UQuk)

Maybe my mom is right. She tells me, “You’ll start gaining weight as you start working and get older.” I always respond by saying, “No! Exercise is my life! I’ll be fit forever!

Well…well…well. Guest what!

Some of us young, healthy guys may be at risk of gaining unwanted fat as we age due to decreasing sleep. In a study recently published in the Journal of American Medical Association, researchers found that a lack of deep sleep decreased the production of human growth hormone (HGH) by the anterior pituitary gland. We already know how important HGH is to mass gain and fat loss.

Another study found that slow-wave, or deep sleep, decreased by more than five and a half times from young adulthood to mid-life. This means that if you can get about 8 hours of deep sleep per night when you’re 15, you’ll only be able to get about an hour and a half of deep sleep when you’re 40!

Four Ways to Get Better Sleep:

Increase Body Heat

Dutch scientists found that increasing skin temperature by .4 degrees Celsius allowed a patient to shift to deeper stages of sleep.
Researchers found that skin temperature affects the cells in the hypthalamus of the brain, which are responsible for controlling sleep.
Taking a hot bath 20 minute before bedtime is good way to increase body temperature.

Get Regular Exercise

Studies have shown that participants exercise on a consistent basis, they report falling asleep faster, sleeping longer, and waking up less frequently during the night compared to whey did not exercise.
However, if you already exercise on a consistent basis, you will not notice any change in sleeping patterns. However, a disturbance in your sleeping patterns may point to a case of over training.
20-30 minutes of exercise, five times a week is a good starting point to improve your sleep cycles. But researchers also point out that each person is different, and may need more or less exercise to see a difference in their sleep patterns.

Forget Daytime Naps

Naps are for kids. Taking daytime naps may be a way to get more sleep, but that does not necessarily mean that you’re getting deeper sleep.
For example, lets say you take an hours nap during the day. Unless you’re extremely tired, it may take you 15-20 minutes just to get to sleep. By the time you’re starting to get your deep sleep, it’s time for you to get up.

Kick The Habit(s)

Nicotine is a stimulant and disrupts sleep patterns. During the night, smokers experience nicotine withdrawal, which makes it difficult to sleep.
Caffeine causes sleep problems for up to 10 - 12 hours after consumption. Have your caffeine during breakfast and lunch, or cut down on your consumption.
Alcohol actually reduces the quality of your sleep. For a deeper sleep, stay away from excessive alcohol a few hours before sleep.

The Better Sleep Workout

As mentioned earlier, exercise may not make a big difference in your sleep patterns if you already exercise on a consistent basis. However, there are certain qualities I have found that help with better sleep:

Exercise just a few hours before you bedtime. For example, if you sleep at 10 pm, then it’s a good idea to workout at 5-6 pm, eat dinner, watch a little TV, then go to bed.
Exercise at an extremely high level of intensity. Light or moderate exercise will actually wake your body up. This sort of training is good as a morning or afternoon workout.

How to Design a Better Sleep Workout

The main idea here is to create an intense workout. This is easier if you’ve never performed an intense workout. Let me demonstrate:

Your Current Workout:

5 rounds for time of:
10 Pushups
10 Kettlebell Swings

Time: 10:52.18

Your Brand New Intense Workout:

5 rounds for time of:
10 Hindu Pushups
10 Kettlebell Snatches

Time: 9:34.29

Take-Home Points:

Replace easy exercises with harder variations, or find some way to make the exercise harder. If you are using free weights, then the best method is to simply increase the weight.
Attempt to complete the workout faster. Start timing every single workout you perform. The next time you perform that workout, or a similar workout, it should be completed faster.

Big thanks to Parth for providing us with his guest post. Please feel free to ask Parth any questions you have.

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Tags: fitness, get better sleep, health, how to get better sleep, Nutrition, Parth Shah, what exercises should I do to get better sleep?, working out to sleep better

5 Responses to “Guest Post: Get Better Sleep”

BEE

Jan 30, 2009

10:32 am

Story of my life. I’m always trying to get more sleep- and seems to never have enough.

Thanks for the reminder- the more we exercise, the better the sleep!

You’ve inspired me to add swings to my workout tonight, Love ‘em!

Reply to this comment
Tuscanystone

Jan 30, 2009

11:44 am

I’m a pretty good sleeper but it’s good to know a few tips!

Thanks Parth

Tusc

Reply to this comment
Parth

Jan 30, 2009

12:30 pm

Bee - Awesome! Good luck with the swings. Lemme know if you need any help with form/ developing workouts etc.

Tusc - No problem man. The deeper sleep we can all get, the better.

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Tom Parker - Free Fitness Tips

Jan 31, 2009

7:43 am

I’m a very good sleeper. The problem is I can never force myself to get into bed on time.

Reply to this comment
Parth

Jan 31, 2009

8:58 am

Tom - That’s a common ailment and one, I’m afraid, I do not have a solution for.

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