These 12 suggestions will improve your ability to recover and build muscle through sleep.
- Get eight hours of sleep
Eight is the magic number. Nine is good, especially after an exhausting day, but sleeping more than nine hours a night can be counterproductive for healthy adults. Sleeping less than eight hours a night is a lack of sleep for almost everyone (Some people have a gene that allows them to sleep only six hours a night, but don’t think you get it. It is very rare.) Try to sleep eight hours in a row to go through all of the stages of sleep, each of which is crucial for recovery. For example, REM sleep is the time when you are dreaming, but it is also the only time when your muscles relax completely, which is essential for recovery. If your sleep is so sporadic that you never reach the REM phase,
- Avoid alcohol at the end of the day
Since it is a sedative, many people consider alcohol to be a sleeping pill. It will make you more apathetic, but it does not necessarily induce sleep. On the contrary, there are more risks for it to impact your ability to fall asleep. In addition, sleep under the influence of alcohol is light. Even a few beers can prevent you from reaching the REM phase.
- Eat and drink lightly before bed
A full-size menu can cause indigestion, which decreases the quality of your sleep and, since you have less energy when you are in bed, you are more likely to 먹튀사이트 store calories as body fat. In addition, drinking more than one glass of water an hour before bed can wake you up to urinate. A casein shake and a few almonds are an ideal meal before bed.
- Make a schedule
Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. Also, stick to the same workout and the same eating program. You will thus set up a natural schedule for your body. Change your bedtime or meals and workouts and you may find it harder to fall asleep.
- Take a nap in the middle of the afternoon
To help counteract lack of sleep, take a 30-minute nap in the middle of the afternoon. This is when your body’s circadian rhythms decline. So it’s a good time to go back to bed and a bad time to work out (or to take an exam or lead a meeting). If necessary, wear a mask to block the light from sleep.
- Minimize caffeine several hours before bed
Of course, you shouldn’t drink a cup of coffee or Coca Light before bed, but you already know that. What you may not know is that caffeine (the most widely used psychoactive stimulant in the world) has an average life of five to seven hours. If you ingest 150mg of caffeine at 6 p.m., you will still have 75mg of caffeine in your body when you turn off the lights at midnight. This will make it harder to fall asleep and your sleep will be lighter and more restless (and therefore less productive). Avoid drinking caffeine from the second part of the afternoon.
- Don’t get too hot
The ideal temperature to initiate sleep is a small 18 ° C. Dress more lightly if your room temperature is higher. In addition to the relaxing power of water, a warm bath before bed lowers your body temperature when you get out of the tub, which helps you fall asleep.
- If you are a teenager, you have a different schedule
Adolescents have a different circadian rhythm than their parents. They also need a little more sleep. This is why at 16 you probably prefer to go to bed after midnight and get up at 9am. This is also why school schedules, which usually force teens to get up early, create sleep deprivation (and inattentive students). Young people, when possible, follow your circadian rhythm to make sure you sleep eight to nine hours a night.
- Take ZMA
After your last meal, ingest a ZMA supplement to boost your hormone levels while you sleep.
- Unzip
Relax mentally and physically before turning off the lights. Avoid anything that can stress you out. Reading or listening to a calm podcast in bed will increase your melatonin level and help you sleep.
- Avoid sleeping pills
Except in exceptional circumstances when sleep does not come, avoid sleeping pills like Zolpidem. The sleep they trigger is artificial and you will not benefit from the recovery power of natural sleep. Sold as natural sleeping pills, the melatonin capsules are a little different. If you fall asleep after ingesting two, they will mainly have a placebo effect. Melatonin does not generate sleep, but regulates its timing. A good use of melatonin capsules is intended to alter your circadian rhythm during occasional trips, which will allow you to minimize fatigue due to jet lag.
- Lower the LED lights
With the prevalence of incandescent lights in the twentieth century, we started to stay awake late because we were no longer guided by the daily darkness caused by the rotation of the Earth on its axis. With the prevalence of LED lights in the 21st century, we go to bed even later. Even more than incandescent light, the blue spectrum of LED lights (generated by computer screens, smartphones or even TVs) simulates daylight, which slows the release of melatonin and delays sleep cycles. Turn off LED screens at least two hours before bedtime and use an application that lowers the blue spectrum of screens in the hours before bedtime.