All about sleep - why is it important to get enough sleep?

“Don't stay in bed, unless you can make money in…” - said George Burns, a well-known American actor and comedian. More or less willingly, you follow this advice, not allowing yourself to get enough sleep for weeks and months. What might it result in?

Can you focus on your work if you are in constant pain, have to take pills every hour, or frequently visit the hospital? Do you manage to stay highly productive when your days are a blur of unbelievable fatigue? If not, it's a good idea to change your attitude to sleep, because lack of sleep is not good for you.

WHAT RESULTS FROM SLEEP DEPRIVATION?

• Provokes the development of arterial hypertension and heart disease, and raises the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
• Insufficient sleep impairs the secretion of special peptides responsible for regulating appetite. This causes appetite to rise and eventually results in obesity.
• Lack of sleep has been linked in some studies to the growth of cancerous tumors.
• Lack of sleep and several sleep disorders cause impotence because frequent waking and short sleep cycles disrupt testosterone production.
• Those who get less than 7-8 hours of sleep each night have an impaired glucose metabolism, which increases their chance of developing diabetes.
• Those who sleep less than 5 hours a day have a 15% higher risk of death from all causes.
• Inadequate sleep speeds up aging.

The same news reporter is shown in both photos; he simply didn't get enough rest in the second one.

It is in sleep that the body recuperates: muscles recover from exercise, the immune system is strengthened, important information is stored in the brain and the cardiovascular system is prepared for a new active day.

To get a good night's sleep, a person needs 7-9 hours of sleep a night. It is a good idea to go to bed before midnight between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. Before going to bed, it is best to avoid the TV and telephone screens, relax, read a book, drink tea and not burden yourself with thoughts of work and current problems.

Sleep should be uninterrupted so that you can go through all the phases of sleep, as each phase involves different changes in the body.

Your muscles actually expand while you sleep, despite the fact that you believe they do so while you exercise. It is crucial for those who workout to obtain enough sleep and get to bed on time.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP?

Avoiding the aforementioned consequences is already a benefit.

In addition, a good rest gives you additional bonuses:

• It helps you look good, as sleep reduces cortisol (which prevents the formation of collagen protein in the skin, which is crucial for your skin);
• Sleep releases the hormone somatotropin, which is essential for bone health, tissue repair and muscle gain;
• Long-term memory is enhanced and memory consolidation is promoted by getting enough sleep.

As Miguel de Cervantes wrote in Don Quixote: “God bless the man who first invented sleep!”

WHAT PREVENTS US FROM SLEEPING WELL?

You shouldn’t work in bed. The bed is only for sleeping. You have to get used to the fact that the bed is where you only sleep.

Thoughts and worries about something before you go to sleep - write them down on paper, you can think about them all in the morning. You don't need to turn over all of your thoughts while you're in bed. This will trigger stress reactions in return: relevant hormones will be produced, which simply for biochemical reasons will not let you fall asleep quickly!

Don't be nervous at all. We understand what a dreadful piece of advice that is these days. But consider this: what if, whenever you feel nervous during the day at work or any other time, you just pick up your FISIO® loops as soon as it's becoming easier and you have free time - and run to the gym/to the door/to the tree. Hang it up, turn on some music, start working out and do as much as you can, as hard as you can, forget about everything. Just work out. Hard. Without thinking about anything.

This is 100% advice to beat any stress, believe me, the author of these words knows what he's talking about! You're a FISIO athlete now - you, unlike others, have the secret weapon to beat any stress - hang up the loops and start training straight away. Work out hard, and forget everything. And trust me, all the anxiety will go away.

Physical fatigue promotes more rapid sleep. But it's important not to push yourself into a state of fatigue or overtraining, which we wrote about in the article on exercise. Otherwise, the opposite outcome will occur. Important: Stop exercising at least 2-3 hours before going to bed.

Unhealthy eating promotes easy digestion, you will take a long time to fall asleep if you eat a heavy meal at night. Eat a substantial dinner no later than 4 hours before bed. You should not go to bed hungry either, because gastric juice secretion increases during a fast night's sleep. According to the neurologist and somnologist A.M. Vein, "Food is digested to the accompaniment of dreams". If there is nothing to digest, there will be poor sleep and the development of gastritis and peptic ulcer disease.

BE CAREFUL WITH COFFEE OR TEA (STIMULANTS)

Drink them early in the day, preferably in the morning, but no later than 6 to 8 hours before bed (before 2pm).

No more than 300 mg of caffeine a day - that's 3 cups of coffee.

Drink coffee with milk or cream: caffeine binds with milk fats, so it has less of an effect on the nervous system.

Robusta has more caffeine than arabica, so choose the second option.

Thermal processing increases the caffeine content of the beans, so choose mild to medium roasted coffees.

Natural coffee has much less effect on sleep than instant coffee (the latter is often supplemented with caffeine).

JET LAG

It occurs when rapidly crossing 2 or more time zones and is associated with the body getting used to a certain bedtime. It is advised to overcome jet lag by gradually reducing (increasing) your bedtime and wake-up time, adjusting to the new time zone.

Try to get ready 3-5 days before your trip.

Pay attention to all of the above points, they will help you improve your quality of life, achieve your goals and improve your health!