20 | Why Sleep Isn’t Boring: What We Don’t Know About Sleep

How to: Fitness

In this episode of How to: Fitness, we’re talking about sleep - a topic that can seem really boring but is truly a missing key in our overall health and wellness. Today we’re talking about what we do and don’t know about sleep, its impact on every aspect of our health, and how sleep hygiene is often overlooked in the fitness space.

6:36 We spend one third of our lives asleep, so it’s very surprising that there is so much we don’t know about sleep - including why we need to sleep.
7:52 As we sleep our brains will cycle repeatedly through two different types of sleep - REM (otherwise known as rapid-eye movement) sleep and non-REM sleep. Michael talks through these stages and cycles with more detail, focusing on the complexity of non-REM stage three sleep and how important it is for our fitness and recovery.
11:14 In REM sleep, the eyes move rapidly behind closed lids, and brain waves are similar to those during wakefulness. This isn’t considered a restful stage; the brain is highly active throughout REM sleep, increasing brain metabolism by up to 20%. It is believed to be important for mood, memories and learning.

14:38 Recent findings suggest that sleep plays a housekeeping role that helps to removes toxins in your brain that build up while you are awake, essentially functioning like an overnight cleaning team providing essential and restorative services to the brain as we sleep.
17:20 Sleep affects almost every type of tissue and system in the body, and research shows that a chronic lack of sleep, or getting poor quality sleep, is correlated with mortality. There is so much unknown around sleep, leaving us feeling wary of “sleep experts” who have all the answers.
22:57 Our sleep need is individualized to an extent, and there is a lot unknown around how sleep needs change as we age. The general recommendation for adults is 7 hours of sleep per night, and there are negative consequences for lower amounts of sleep even though some individuals feel they function well on less sleep.

29:30 There’s a lot of uncertainty around the impact of naps on brain development and overall health, as well as if we can catch up on “sleep debt.”
32:49 There are a lot of obvious or “boring” tips around sleep hygiene, but there are also suggestions we often overlook when addressing our sleep patterns. We talk through some of these overlooked tips around improving our sleep.
47:00 We want sexy, quick fixes and often ignore “easier” fixes. Sleep definitely falls into that category as a puzzle piece that impacts our mental, physical, and emotional health in all ways.
This is our last episode for this season of How to: Fitness. We have some really exciting interviews and topics lined up for our next season coming in January 2024!
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