MORE SLEEP ANYONE?

It seems sleep (or our lack of it) is the latest bandwagon health practitioners around the world are jumping on. Given its importance to our health and longevity our PEAK coaches are working with athletes every day to ensure they are sleeping soundly, prioritising sleep as one of the key ingredients in the recipe for setting us up for success.

Here is our PEAK spin on getting some shut-eye and some tips on getting a better sleep and waking up fresh…Waking up refreshed (and knowing your sleep cycles)We often hear of athletes sleeping their 8 hours but still waking up feeling groggy, tired and reaching for that coffee cup.

We know that our sleep cycles last about 90 minutes and it is recommended we aim for at least 4 cycles, which equals out to 6 hours of solid sleep.

However, the next 90-minute cycle finishes up at 7.5 hours, meaning opening your eyes after 8 hours may have you waking up in the middle of another sleep cycle.

While the science isn’t exact, you can try setting your alarm to have you waking up at these 90-minute increments to have you waking more refreshed. There are also a number of sleep cycle alarms now out which will track your cycles and wake you around the time your body is in light sleep!For Coffee Lovers Only We love our coffee here at PEAK, and you’ll often see various members of the tribe with a coffee in hand.Caffeine does have a half-life of 5-8 hours depending on each individual. That means a brew at 2pm could still leave half the amount of caffeine in your body at 7-10pm.

The easiest way to help reduce the late-night caffeine coursing through the veins is to stick to the rule NO BREW after NOON.Instead of Counting Sheep…

Count what you are grateful for.A worried mind is not a mind made for sleeping, and stressing over the day’s events can only lead to bags under the eyes in the morning. More gratitude and positive thoughts at bedtime has shown longer and more refreshing sleep to those who take up the practice. There are some great diaries and gratitude journals around that can help kickstart this process. So get counting!!

These are a few small tips that will go a big way to improving your sleep, but because we value good quality sleep so highly at PEAK here are a few more tips to have you snoozing as soon as your head hits the pillow

Test these out and see the sleepy results first hand. If you are having issues with your sleep or would like to learn a little more about how you can improve your sleep call us on (07) 3399 3318 to book an appointment with a PEAK coach.