Simple and Evidence Based Tactics to Improve Your Sleep
Of all the popular approaches to improving recovery following workouts or athletic competition (massage, cold plunges, foam rolling, compression boots, floating in a bathtub of wine), sleep remains at the top of the list as the most effective and evidence-based recovery “hack.” If we want to reap the benefits of our workouts, we need to get good at sleeping.
A recent review published in the International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching provides evidence-based tips to get the most out of our sleep. This article was specifically written for athletes, but I think it has applicability to anyone who wants to maximize outcomes from their workouts.
Bank sleep prior to workouts, competition (your next half marathon), or travel. Banking sleep for a day or two up to a week is supported by the scientific literature. If you are running a marathon on Saturday, chances are you won’t sleep well Friday night. Focus on banking sleep Monday through Thursday.
Consider adding naps that are 20-90 minutes in length that are scheduled between 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm.
Reduce evening light exposure. Avoid blue light two hours before bedtime.
Develop a pre-sleep routine an hour before bedtime. Avoid stimulation from your phone or tablet, take a warm bath, write a to-do list for the next day, read a physical book, or perform some meditative breathing.
Keep the sleep environment like a cave: Dark, cool, and quiet. Turn off lights in the bedroom, cover light sources, and use blackout curtains and blinds. Keep the sleeping environment cool and quiet (or consider utilizing white noise).
Consume caffeine strategically. Caffeine is a powerful performance enhancer but can also be disruptive to sleep. Consider how you personally metabolize caffeine and plan the timing of your consumption accordingly.
Bonus tip not from the research review: Consider tracking your sleep with a reliable wearable. I personally use an Oura ring as I want to understand not just my time in bed but the time I spend sleeping.
Note: Sleep has so many other benefits beyond recovery from workouts. Bill Clinton famously said, “I can attribute nearly all of my poor decisions to a lack of sleep” (this is a paraphrase from a presentation I heard him give live about 10 years ago... he didn’t mention which decisions he was referring to).
