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Sleep: Key #10 to Summiting Kilimanjaro

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KilimanjaroI 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

Move It Monday – Fall Asleep Faster

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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.

Filed Under: Health

Geek Fit Friday – Nap to Learn More

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I’ve talked here and here about how your brain processes information during downtime, and how sleep is the ultimate downtime activity.

A new study from UC Berkley is provides yet more evidence that an hour-long nap can “dramatically boost and restore brain power.”

Being the geek that I am, I love the analogy they give. They describe our brain as an email inbox, and that when we get tired the inbound emails (information) starts bouncing. It’s only when we sleep does the inbox get sorted, filed, and cleaned out, so when we wake up again we can start accepting new emails.

So, what can you do to boost those creative juices? Workplaces run the gamut from nap-friendly to, well, not, so I have a variety of options for you:

  • Find out if you workplace has a napping room. Oftentimes it is also the same room that mothers use for nursing. I’ve worked in some large corporations that offer such a luxury — you just have to ask around.
  • Realize that napping is NOT a sign of weakness. In just 20 minutes you can come back refreshed, smarter, and more productive then the guy or gal in the cubicle over who decided to try to take care of the mid-afternoon lull with a bag of skittles and a cup of coffee.
  • You don’t need an hour. Even 10 minutes can make a HUGE difference.
  • If you can’t nap, find some place quiet to just chill out for a bit. No taking work, or going on break with co-workers. Empty conference rooms, break rooms, and the great outdoors all work well. Block out your calendar and make it look as if you have left for a meeting, and you are golden.

What creative strategies do YOU have for getting your mid-day recharge?

Filed Under: Health

Geek Fit Friday – Daylight Savings

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geek-fit-fridayAn extra hour of sleep on Saturday night. Terrific!

This got me thinking about how important sleep is. In our 24×7 society the mantra, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” is certainly appealing, but the funny thing is that it’s also a faster way to get there!

As a Geek, sleep is super-important to us on a few levels.

Getting the appropriate amount of sleep keeps us more trim. Too much or too little sleep on an ongoing basis leads to weight gain. 7-9 hours per night is the ideal for weight management.

The brain functions fundamentally differently when we sleep compared to when we are awake. Sleep is when we form our memories and process most of our information from the day. While we are awake, our brains are simply too busy trying to process what is going on in real-time to have the extra cycles to do other things.

So, if you are one who revels in burning the candle at both ends, enjoy this Saturday, and consider making that extra hour permanent.

Filed Under: Lifestyle

Sleep duration related to BMI

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I’m still on my sleep kick. And, given that I’m currently at the Z-Health 9S: Sustenance & Spirit course, I think an article about BMI is fitting.

In another (somewhat) recent article from Science Daily, a study of ~1,800 twins, they found that individuals who sleep 7-8.9 hours/night have a lower BMI than those who sleep either more or less. They controlled for genetics and shared environment.

I believe that while sleep has many restorative properties on its own, but that that quantity of sleep also generally speaks to someone’s overall lifestyle. Way less sleep means you are probably burning the candle at both ends, suffer from high cortisol levels, and generally have too much going on so are not paying proper attention to diet and exercise. Considerably more sleep oftentimes reflects a considerably less active lifestyle (for any of a number of reasons).

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Filed Under: Health
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