Did you know that after the age of 35, there is a 50% chance that you will develop some sort of Sleep disorder?(1) Did you know that there is a 24% increase in Heart Attacks when we lose an hour of sleep during daylight changing time? (2) With these very real statistics in mind, and knowing just how important each minute of sleep is to athletes; dont you want to ensure you are doing the most to get your precious ZZZ’s? From Melatonin to Eye masks, there are many ways to hack a good night sleep but Ive got 2 proven methods for you to implement today.
Sleep is the greatest reset button we have for our bodies. As athletes we demand so much from our muscles and mind during exercise and therefore need a hard reset each night to ensure we are ready for the next training day. Without adequate sleep all of the bodies major systems begin to suffer. Have you ever experienced any of these symptoms after a shitty night sleep;
-Lack of Motivation
-Lack of Focus
-Muscle Soreness
-Youve gotten injured
-Reaction time slows
-You feel bloated???
These are all very acute signs that you have not slept well and thats just what you are feeling on the outside! Inside the body, as deep as the cells of the tissues and endocrine system itself the damage is real and can even result in permanent DNA changes.
Lifestyle choices are a culprit for most sleep issues but there is another natural disturbance, and that is the changing of the seasons. To exaggerate the seasonal changes on our lives, we still hold onto an outdated tradition of changing the clocks forward and back. The collective health issues that are felt by humans is nothing to shy away from. Heartattacks rise, strokes rise, productivity goes down.. The one positive is that it usually happens on a Sunday so for all of you Saturday night drinking warriors, sleep on my friends.. For the rest of us, we need to find solutions to keep our routine on track. There are many solutions but I know of 2 that are guaranteed o work.
1) Aerobic Exercise .
Aerobic Exercise is defined as exercise that occurs at a rate of 65% or below max heart rate for an extended period of time (>30min). The benefits of aerobic exercise aid in cleansing the body and resetting the endocrine system and hormonal changes. Cortisol and associated Stress levels go way down when aerobic exercise habits are in place. Additionally, metabolism is directly effected by not only your exercise routine but also your sleep cycle. When your resting blood glucose is under control and in normal ranges, you sleep better.
Anecdotally I can tell you that as a constant and VERY long distance traveller, Aerobic exercise before long flights has dramatically helped me stay on a healthy sleep routine. I usually perform 40+ minutes of interval exercise or some kind of long run or row. Traveling from Hawaii to NYC is a 13+ hour flight and I have no problem falling asleep fast, especially with an edible or two:)
2) Magnesium Supplementation.
Magnesium has long been the sought after Nutrient for sleep health. Magnesium buffers both GABA and Melatonin hormones which work in the neurological and hormonal pathway to calm the neurons of the brain and muscles as well as act on the hormones in the pituitary and thyroid.
Magnesium in the diet is easy if you are eating Whole Foods. Almonds, spinich, quinoa are great sources and since magnesium is best taken before bed; I recommend some Dark Chocolate as you wind down the day with a book.
Magnesium is neither water or fat soluble, although it has some properties that make it more bio available with water in the digestive system. While there are many types of Magnesium supplements on the market, Magnesium Glycinate is the most bioavailable.
Seasonal sleep disorders are unfortunately common but keeping up on good sleep hygiene can create a hedge against disruptions. Obviously the more coffee you drink late in the day and alcohol you consume in the evening can have an effect on your sleep so I would make sure that you keep those things in check. So sleep well my friends and Ill be here to support you the entire time.
Love
Eric
Programming Notes 11/11-11/15 ** This is week is Veterans Day so Ive put Tillman on the run sheet. Hinging heavy on Monday and Friday. Tuesday and Thursday are Aerobic workouts. Wednesday has vertical, lateral and linear ballistic training with three types of jumps. Grip strength is on the menu so make sure you are sleeping well to recover the CNS.
11/11
Baseline:
500m Row
3X
10 Scapula Pull Ups
8 Elbow To Instep Lunge + Reach
6 Divebomber Push Ups
4 Squat Jumps
Squat Flow: Squat Flow: Kang Squat, Internal Rotation, Ankle Roll Out, Bootstraps, PNF Stretch, Squat W/ T Spine Stretch
Strength:
Box Squats (Week 2)
3X5
*Building on last week
+ 5-15#
WOD;
“Tillman”
7 Rounds for Total Time,
7 Deadlift 315/225
200m Sprint
15 Pull Ups
-Rest :45 Between-
11/12
Baseline:
3X
400m Run
8 Marching High Kicks
8 Planked Hip Taps
8 V Ups
Lunge Flow: (each side)
-Ankle Roll Outs
-Hamstring Pulses
-Elbow To instep
-Samson Lunge
-Pigeon
Gymnastic Strength:
3X
2 minute Deadhang on the Pull Up Bar
Aerobic Work;
20 Minute AMRAP
800m Run
30 Push Ups
11/13
5 Minutes on the Assault Bike
3X
8 Banded Pass thru
8 Supine Banded Pull Aparts
8 Prone pull apart
8 Banded Row
8 Banded Press and rip
8 Banded Trunk Twist
Barbell work:
3X
10 Barbell Roll Outs
10 Barbell Bent Row 115/75
50 Meter Barbell overhead carry 115/75
WOD:
3 Rounds,
12 Press 75/55
12 Box Jumps 24/20
-Rest 3 Minutes-
3 Rounds,
10 hang Power Cleans 115/75
10 Lateral Line Touches @ 20’ Apart
-Rest 3 minutes-
3 Rounds ,
8 Push Jerks 155/115
8 Broad Jumps
11/14
Baseline:
4X :30 @ Each
-Bike
-Squat
-Inchworm Push Ups
-Deadbug
-Linear Power Skips
Aerobic Conditioning:
30 Minute AMRAP
“DIRTY 30”
21 CAL BIKE
18 Wall Ball Shot
15 Kettlebell Snatch 53/35
9 Toes To bar
11/15
Baseline:
800m Run
3X
10 Cal Bike
8 Eccentric (tempo)Bulgarian Split Squats (Foot On Plate)
10 banded Good Mornings
Hamstring Primer
3X8
Deficit Romanian Deadlift 135/95
Pendlay Row
Strength:
Deadlift
5X5
*Across All sets,
*Perform no more than 25 reps warming up
Then,
Deadlift
5X1
*Building Each rep
Cool Down:
Bike 5 Miles
