physiology - Keyboard Athletes

Sleep: Key #10 to Summiting Kilimanjaro

I am a big fan of sleeping, and have what have been called mad sleeping skills.

I almost always sleep on planes, and can nap on a moment’s notice. I’m definitely more on the 8-9 per night end of things, and I am outright cranky when I don’t get enough sleep.

Last week I even napped on an office floor because I was so tired. No, not recommended, but it worked in a pinch.

So, the idea of eight nights in a tent in freezing conditions didn’t thrill me. We weren’t allowed to use sleeping pills on the trail so it wouldn’t mask the signs of altitude sickness, and I’m a chronic night owl. So, knowing how wonderfully (NOT!) I perform sleep deprived, I was a bit anxious with long days in unknown conditions ahead of me.

Lack of sleep can be more dangerous than drunk driving

Lack of sleep is indicted in an awful lot of things. For my Kilimanjaro trek, there were only a few things I cared about: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Lifestyle

Vision Training for Nearsightedness

By Jen Waak 6 Comments

What if you could spend a few minutes a day to make your nearsightedness disappear?

You can.

About 20% more Americans have been diagnosed with nearsightedness as compared to 30 years ago. While I’m all about blaming the industrial food complex for just about everything else, this one I’m going to have to largely blame excessive time on computers, video games, and watching TV.

I’m a pretty hard-core geek, remember fumbling around in DOS, have done my share of computer programming, and never leave town without my laptop, so this is NOT a rant that all computers are evil. Instead, it’s about taking the couple minutes a day it takes to undo what I call “computer eyes” – or the effects of spending hours at a time staring at what is largely a fixed spot.

So, how does this happen?

The eyes are controlled by muscles – just like the rest of our moving parts. In the case of our eyes, there are six oculomotor muscles that allow our eyes to look up, down, left, right, track moving objects, and let us glance from the speedometer, to the rearview mirror, and back to the road. And, just like the rest of the body, it’s a use it or lose it proposition. When we spend a lot of time doing one activity, in this case staring at a screen that is virtually always the same distance in front of us and in the same position, our muscles get really good at holding that position – and that’s about it.

Fortunately, alleviating computer eyes is more simple than you might think. Move your eyes!

I recommend:

1) Eye tracking drills

2) Eye massage

3) Vary your work environment so you aren’t always staring at the same point

Interested in learning more about vision training and eliminating computer eyes? Drop me a note and let’s get started!

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/evilerin/ / CC BY 2.0

Filed Under: Health

Move It Monday – Fall Asleep Faster

By Jen Waak 1 Comment

Wish you could fall asleep faster?

I think most of us intuitively know that if we exercise during the day we’ll sleep better at night. After all, it is the premise behind getting the kids to play outside all afternoon, right? What we have always intuitively known and see anecdotally is now backed up by science.

For every hour of sedentary activity, the amount of time it takes kids to fall asleep increases by 3 minutes. That average of 5 hours that American watch TV every day (a number that absolutely ASTOUNDS me, BTW) is an extra 15 minutes to fall asleep. Here is where it gets really interesting…. In the kids studied, if they fell asleep 10 minutes sooner, they slept an hour longer. 20 minutes sooner, 2 hours longer. So, suddenly a couple of hours of play time — which doesn’t have to be anything crazy, just not plopped in front of the TV — gives you an extra hour or two to sleep, clean the house, call your best friend, get a workout in. Doesn’t that sound awesome?

Adults have similar benefits

Just 30-40 minutes of moderate intensity exercises (which was defined by the study as a brisk walk) each day can significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to fall asleep, and improve the overall quality of sleep. In the study linked to above, the participants fell asleep 11 minutes faster and slept 42 minutes longer. Suddenly, that 30-minute walk has bought you almost an extra hour of sleep. And, if you are in the large portion of the population that gets less than the healthy minimum of 7 hours a night, this is a huge win.

And with that, I’m off for a brisk walk with my pup. Daylight savings confuses my body for several days, so I need whatever help I can get!

P.S. Is it just me, or isn’t “sedentary activity,” by definition, a bit of a misnomer? If you are sedentary, you aren’t moving, which is then NOT an activity.