Tuesday, March 15, 2016

QUALITY of sleep matters just as much as QUANTITY

I'd rank myself in overall good physical condition. Male, 5'11", 145lbs, workout/lift every other day, minor cardio. I look good and feel good, well most of the time. Lately I had been struggling with being overly tired all the time.

Sleep more! Yeah, well I had been getting to be at 10pm every night and waking up at 5:30am dead tired. That's a "solid" 7 1/2 hours with the fluffy pillow, but I woke up more tired than when I went to bed it seemed. Weeks saw 10+ hours of sleep when I could.

Work in fiance, long hours (12-14 hour days), and it was really taking a toll on my ability to just get even a poor workout in. Nights I wanted to hang out with friends or do something turned into me battling with myself to go out, or just stay in and sleep. My mood and overall happiness was down the tubes.

I tired adjusting my eating habits for more calories with no avail. I tried coffee, which only helped in the mornings, but made me feel overly bloated on just one cup. I was just about to turn to energy drinks to continue functioning.

As of yesterday, I figured out the issue - QUALITY of sleep. Before, I was even going as far as to cover up my clock light with a towel, but neglected the basics.

Since July, I had been taking my phone to bed, laying it on the nightstand. I noticed nights it was turned off or on airplane mode, I felt more rested. Eventually I tried removing it all together from my room and leaving it downstairs plugged in. BINGO! Within literally one night I felt much more rested and actually had 2-3 dreams I remembered, showing I was able to hit that stage of sleep. I hadn't had many dreams in months.

Before going to bed, I would tinker on the phone checking Facebook, forums, and Youtube for 20 minutes, not thinking it was doing much. Rarely this led to legit insomnia all night so I didn't think it was affecting me. Other times I fell sleep, but woke up numerous times, or didn't dream at all (on good nights). When the phone is completely removed and not in the room, sleep comes much more easily and when I wake up, I actually feel rested.

This is probably very basic, but don't overlook it. No phones, cover up your clock if it's bright, even get some heavy blinds or covers for the windows. Sleep is very important to overall health weather you're trying to put on muscle, lose, weight, or whatever your fitness goals are. Or even if you're just looking to feel better and have more energy through fitness and working out.

submitted by /u/cmiovino
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