6 Benefits of & 4 Tips To Get a Good Night’s Sleep

As a Personal Trainer in Swansea my day starts at 6am every morning, this does not mean that I do not get a good night’s sleep. We all love the great feeling of waking up from a great night’s sleep; it gives you the perfect start to the day. We’ve also all felt sluggish for the whole day after a bad night’s sleep, so we need to make sure we are getting enough sleep in our lives.

Getting less than 6 hours a sleep can not only leave us feeling tired and unable to function properly for the day but can also be bad for your health.

Here are some other benefits of a good night’s rest:

Reduces stress – Sleep deficiency causes the body to go into a state of stress. It is very common to see people who have had a bad night’s sleep moody and worried. Your blood pressure is increased which leads to a production in your stress hormones.

Makes you more alert – When you awaken from a good sleep you are much more alert and have a lot more energy. Often the most productive of days will come after a good night’s sleep and early start. You use up all of your energy in the day and will have a good chance of sleeping properly again the next night.

Bolsters your memory – You may not know but as your body rests during sleep your brain remains extremely active. It processes all the feelings and emotions than you have experienced during the day. Dreaming helps you to make connections and links which boost your memory.

May help you lose weight – I read some research which suggests that people who sleep less than 7 hours a night are more likely to be obese. Your appetite is affected as sleep affects your hormones which interfere with appetite.

Reduce risk of depression – There is a chemical in your body called serotonin which is impacted on by sleep. A deficiency in serotonin is linked to depression.

Helps the body make repairs – Your cells make more protein while you are asleep which you should all know helps to repair the body from damage.

I am not saying if you are trying to lose weight that as much sleep as possible is the answer, if you want to lose weight you need to get out there and exercise and eat well. A good night’s sleep will just give you more energy for exercise and a better balance to your appetite which WILL help you in your weight loss efforts.

So a great sleeping pattern can boost you mentally, physically, socially, cognitively and emotionally!

Tips

Spend part of your day exhausting your energy through exercise then when you sleep all of your energy levels will be replenished. Rather than watching TV until midnight, just relax and try a bit of light reading before you go to sleep with dimmed lights.

No laptop or computer for 2 hrs before bed as kit messes with your sleep quality.

Another way to help you sleep well is to go to bed on an empty stomach, about 2-3 hrs after your evening meal. This way your body(specifically your liver) is not working half the night trying to process your food. This effect is exaggerated when you eat crap before bed which is full of toxins.

Finally, the last way I would suggest helping yourself relax naturally before bed is to take some magnesium capsules, especially if your exercise a lot, which will help the muscle and body relax. Many western/modern diets are deficient in magnesium.

As I have said, being a personal trainer in Swansea I have an early start pretty much every morning, plus I have a three year old son just in case I dare think about a lay in! This does not make me feel fatigued later on in the day though; I can still get my 8 hours by going to bed at 9 or 10pm. So try and get around 8-10 hours sleep a night and get your day off to a flyer.

Take care

Richard