Sleep: The New Performance-Enhancer

Hey Yall! Anyone that knows me knows that I love to sleep. When I was younger I did not have a bedtime because I would just go to sleep on my own. Now that I’m grown, I usually fall asleep within seconds of my head hitting the pillow. It’s one of my favorite things and probably the thing I’m best at (besides writing AMAZING blog posts, am I right?)

I was listening to an interview on the radio with a professional football player who seems to have beaten father time. At the age of 36 (OLD in football terms) he is still performing at a very high level. The interviewer asked him, “How are you doing it? You’re getting up there in age but you are still a big-time player.” He gave the usual answers of correct nutrition, exercise, conditioning, massage, dry needling but his last tip intrigued me. “The key to my success is sleep. Sleep is like a legal steroid. I make sure to get 8 hours every night.”

Now I always have heard that 7-8 hours of sleep is important, but I have never heard it referred to as a steroid or performance enhancer. So I did some digging to find out how sleep can become a legal, performance enhancing additive. Here is what I found:

In an article posted by the Harvard School of Public Health, it was found that individuals who slept for less than 7 hours were 15% more likely to be obese compared to individuals who slept 7-8 hours. Interestingly enough, individuals who slept for 9 or more hours also had an increased risk of obesity. But you guys know that numbers aren’t good enough for me. I want to know why!!

Under or over-sleeping has a big impact on how our body systems regulate themselves.  Sleep deprivation causes the appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin to be increased. In simple words, this tricks the body into thinking its hungry and causes you to overeat.  Among other things, under sleeping causes decreased body temperature, decreased physical activity and an increase in depression and type 2 diabetes risk.

If those things aren’t enough to put you asleep (see what I did there?) I don’t know what is. Sleep is key to a successful healthy lifestyle. The goal is 7-8 hours. Now, you are probably reading this and saying, “7-8 hours? Yeah right. I wish that was possible.” Oh, but it is! Set the goal today to work towards 8 hours of sleep. I can guarantee you’ll thank me; and so will your co-workers. Happy sleeping!