The great training method most forget

Driving in and out of Solihull at 6:30 this morning from Shirley, it was a textbook dark January

And with it being a Monday, this one can always be a drag

But, it weren’t so bad!

You see I intended to get up at 5:30, get some stuff done, then head off on my commute at 6:30

The thing was it took me a while to nod off last night…

My sleep was pretty broken …

And then the little boy wakes up at 2:30

So sleep quality wasn’t great and neither was the duration

As a result at 2:30 I thought stuff it, I’m getting up usual time and getting half an hour extra

So why the hell am I sharing this?

 

What do you need to get more of?

Yeah, yeah not money, sex or holidays! But sleep is always there for most

This presents a bit of problem though when it comes to wanting to become stronger, fitter, faster, or leaner

Actually it causes a whole catalogue of problems!

 

ENERGY:

What happens with a bad night’s sleep? Yep you feel like hell the next day…and most of the days after

So problem number one is it drains energy from you, which isn’t great when your going to train that day

The more energy you have for a session, the more positive stress you can place on the body and the more you can adapt, so energy to train is fundamental, regardless of the specific goal

Plus, how many positive days do you actually have when your knackered? I can’t think of any myself

In fact, I’d bet my bottom dollar you more prone to slip up on this days…

You know, buy the confectionary isle in Sainsbury’s, drink a litre of Peps, all the crap which won’t get you to your goals, but in fact take you back

 

SLEEP YOURSELF BETTER:

The body adapts loads when you sleep, many regard it as the key period where you develop and recovery

All sorts of genetic driven messages and physiological wonders occur and sub optimal sleeps interferes with these

This means limited results…

Limited strength gains

Limited body fat loss

Limited fitness gains

 

WHAT D’YA DO? WHAT I LEARNT FROM EXPERTS:

A while back I was fortunate enough to spend time with the world’s leading researchers into sleep

They basically ran a load of studies on students, mostly getting them to sit in the shell of an old Ford Fiesta on a simulator, until they nodded off!

But they shared their ‘secrets’ to great sleep, I’ve also added a couple of extras…

1. Make the room dark, block out beside lights, standby switches
2. Have a bed which is comfy
3. Hours before mid night; they carry biggest bang for buck, get to bed no later than 10pm
4. Un-interrupted sleep; so don’t drink loads of water before bed and don’t go to bed hungry
5. Stay off the Iphone for the hour before bed, that blue light on the screen is a devil!
6. The amount of sleep you should have is individual based on you and your lifestyle. However 8-9 hours quality sleep is a good guide

 

THE BOTTOM LINE THOUGH?

You know what to do, but will you do it?

 

Sign up for the highest quality, daily pro information on training, performance and fitness, straight to your inbox here.