Sleep Routine Guide


These key guide notes should help you check your current sleep plan and identify areas where you could improve. A more detailed personal assessment can be achieved by completing a profile.Click here to start your personal sleeping profile

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SLEEP – WAKE MANAGEMENT:

Governing all our body functions is the 24 hour circadian clock which cycles through phases known as “circadian rhythms”. (circ = about and diem = day) Synchronizing your 24 hour activities against these natural patterns will provide the platform to optimize recovery.

Sleep Optimization: calculate your current status by adding up the hours of sleep achieved in one week from Monday to Friday only. Record a day when you felt alert and at your peak and the hours of sleep achieved the previous night. Multiply that number by five and subtract that from the week’s total amount of hours.

Zero indicates a balanced and optimized plan. Negative or positive equals an accrued debt or over sleeping. Examples:

7.5 hours per night = 37.5 hours per week - 7.5 hours x 5 = 37.5 hours = Zero feeling recovered mentally and physically every day.

5 hours for 3 nights, 7.5 hours 5th & 6th night = 33 hours – best day 5th day > 7.5 hours x 5 = 37.5 hours = negative 4.5 hours.

Develop a constant every day wake time (7days) which is normally determined by work day schedules can be a more productive, balanced and natural approach. Once you have the wake time fixed work back in 90 minute cycles to identify a practical asleep time for you based on 5 cycles providing 7.5 hours and add 15 minutes. Most healthy adults require at least this to cancel the sleep debt incurred by 16.5 hours of constant alertness.

When you are required to go to sleep later than the ideal time, keep to the 90 minute plan and wake at the same time even if you have only achieved two or more cycles. If you have to wake earlier don’t within reason try to go to sleep earlier. In these cases, use the CSRP, between 1pm – 3pm, a controlled nap (20/40 mins) to help boost performance without affecting routine.

A poor plan that always leaves you under slept can lead to many significant mental and physical side affects short and longer term.

Am or PM: Up at dawn, wide awake and raring to go, or are you still up and about, getting things done long after midnight. Identify what characteristic applies to you best (or in between the two) and plan around these patterns not fight against them. Whatever your sleep characteristics are remember we are programmed to be active in the daytime and recovery at night.

AM Larks: Enjoy breakfast, best meal of the day – naturally wake - find it easier to work in the morning - most alert around midday - suffer more from jet lag - don't tend to fall asleep during the day - prefer to exercise in the morning  - find it difficult to work shifts - go to bed early

PM Owls: skip breakfast – best meal dinner - alarm clock wake - easier to work in the afternoon - most alert early evening - cope better with jet lag – take or experience naps - prefer to evening exercise - easier to work shifts – have variable asleep times - stay up later and sleep later into the am period non work days.

CSRP Power Naps: Don't get caught napping, when combined with a defined routine a CSRP can add real benefits to over come certain circumstances or as a main part of the overall recovery plan.
Check the temperature of the recovery room and ensure it has a clean well aired atmosphere, free of any disruptions, calming and that you won't feel cold or hot in normal every day or active clothing within reason. If possible darken the room, control external ambient light and or wear soft breathable eye shades.

Control your coffee or caffeine intake before a planned CSRP.

Before entering your CSRP free up your mind from any current thoughts, concerns and plans by focusing on the positive benefits to be gained later from this recovery time out. Ideally a CSRP power nap is taken between 1pm and 3pm, just after a lunch break and after the am peak period. Ensure it can be taken without any disruptions and in a quiet calm place.

Set an alarm to wake you after 20/30/40 minutes of sleep, no longer, to avoid developing a deeper counter productive longer cycle. A 30 minute controlled period = 5 minutes getting into sleep, 20 minutes asleep and 5 minutes to wake. Upon waking, rinse your face with cold water, drink a small bottle of water to rehydrate and get into the fresh air or stand by an open window.

If you do not feel like sleeping then do not try to force your self into a CSRP let your plan determine a natural pattern in time.

Introduce more regular daytime 5 minute down time breaks (a place of solitude) which helps to process information, thoughts, and plans and not carry this into the pre sleep period.

Travel Fatigue: Is a combination of the stress and the sleep debt accrued when travelling. Judgment and decision making can be reduced by 50%, communication reduced by 30%; memory reduced by 20%, attention awareness can be reduced by 75%. Change regular journeys, routines, use other forms of transport to combat these affects.

Maintain: a regular and balanced diet combined with regular or your specific exercise goals, but avoid over training into the evening period and allow an adequate last meal digestion period of 3 hours. Small easily digestible snacks and fluids to hydrate can be taken no later than 90/60 minutes before a planned sleep time when required. Note: check if you have any food allergies other than common ones.

Use caffeine strategically or under advice: Yes, it disrupts sleep, but if you know how long its effects last, it can help you to manage your sleep. Get the most from your tea or coffee by working out when you will be at your most sleepy and having a cup then, rather than drinking it throughout the day. And always avoid caffeine in the 2-3 hours prior to sleep.

Alcohol is a social stimulant and will disrupt sleeping patterns, the ability to breathe easily and knock you out (sedate).  While scientific research shows that a nightcap doesn't promote quality sleep or performance, if it is part of your overall social routine then in moderation and in control is vital.

Social interactivity outside of work and your sport can be very important in any daily routine and sometimes lost when work, training schedules overlap.

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 PRE SLEEP:

90/60 minutes prior to sleep adopt proven mental and physical relaxation, displacement techniques like yoga / Pilates, and sound and or non stimulating functions. Write a to-do list on paper and leave it with your car / house keys etc, items you will never forget to leave the house without.

Slightly raise your body temperature with light exercise or take a quick warm shower (rinse) With your NBT raised and taken into a cooler room ,16-18 degrees (not cold) into a cool bed induces the transfer of temperature from you into your products and triggers the natural sleep state process to begin. (Sun down) 

Ensure you have a safe and secured overall environment to sleep in.

Re-evaluate your bedroom against its main purpose which is a sleeping recovery room to re-habilitate mentally, physically. Keep it simple and free from stimulus that could be used and left in another room that may sub-consciously keep you alert into and during sleep. Free of any internal or external ambient light or noise.

Don’t leave alarm clocks where you can lie and stare at them, set them if required but place them out of sight. Mobile phones or handheld work devices should not be used as a wake up tool they should be switched off and ideally left in another room.

Light and Dark: Light is a primary control factor and in today’s ever increasing time poor technologically advanced world our own personal far more pro-active lifestyles are continuingly fighting against the natural “clock” routine. Ensure your room is dark with no ambient light (street lights- electrical devices) and remember as the sun rises our natural (wake) alarm clock is activated so be conscious of this during the seasonal changes in summer /winter.

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Bad Noise: External noise that can easily affect the internal space and keep you mentally alert and internal noise like partners snoring creating extended periods of light sleeping and un-natural awakenings.

Good Noise: Pure white noise (a dampened consistent drone or humming) encourages you to stop concentrating and displace active thoughts, creating a feeling of clam. Fans for example produces a form of white noise provide air circulation and balance temperature and can be a useful tool in certain circumstances.

SLEEPNOTICS: Displacing the outside world through a sound induced sleep state can help with extreme pressure circumstances, getting off to sleep, getting back to sleep and sleeping in unusual, unfamiliar and insecure environments. Using today's modern music player devices (MP3) and the sa-pro sound pillo with the technology to embrace just that, create a sound induced sleep state routine to overcome high levels of stress and or adrenaline pre events at home and away.

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Eye Masks Ear Plugs: are common ways to protect from external interference or create a feeling of sleep state. It is however a better approach, to address these issues in other ways as they block natural senses required to ensure we feel safe and not vulnerable to enter sleep.

Eyes wide shut: even when our eyes are closed the body responds to light signals received from the slow rising sun, which triggers the brain to increase production of the energy hormone cortisol to enable us to feel refreshed and energised ready to go into the am period peaking into midday. Modern day environments tend to be set up to block light all together or not at all so a balance is required in any sleep wake routine. On wake ensure you get exposure to daylight, get light into the house quickly and or get outside. Wearing dark or sun glasses is common in sport but can be counter productive if used without advice or care.

Prescribed Drugs: should be a last resort and avoided, considered only for very short-term situations under medical or professional supervision. Sleeping pills very often have counter productive side effects, including negative performance consequences. Over-the-counter remedies (herbal) and supplements may not be rigorously tested so their long-term effects are still unknown and not normally effective in isolation.

SLEEPING KIT PROFILE:

Whatever style you choose for your bed frame or base remember that the products you actually sleep on and with have a significant affect on how you and any partner sleeps. These are commonly known as mattresses, pillows, duvets and linen or sleeping recovery kit.

It has been a misconception that a firm, hard, orthopaedic titled mattress that last for generations provides the correct support and posture alignment for anybody. It makes sense that you need to know more about what materials are being used to evaluate how they will affect you in sleep and whether it has been designed for your lighter horizontal foetus sleeping position, height, weight and shape profile. Marathon runner v Hammer thrower.

Another misconception is that the pillows chosen to combine with you and your mattress can be purchased separately and have little effect on sleeping quality. In fact they are the key components and as most sleepers get this wrong it is no wonder so many are purchased every year trying to solve the problems they cause.

The duvet is also vital to work in harmony with the all other parts controlling body and bed temperature to minimize one of the more common issues of overheating, excessive perspiration loss, creating sleep disturbance and awakenings.

Beautiful boudoirs require quality linen and design, but keep in mind fresh white quality linen is proven to promote a feeling of sleep calm when approaching your bed and when curled up inside your bed eyes half shut. It also keeps it’s cool in over warm environments and in seasonal changes. The cool side of any pillow in sleep is recognized as the favourite side and we always sleep better on the night when clean fresh linen is on the bed.

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