exercise, quality of life and sleep
Exercise can improve your quality of life. I think for most people this statement is somewhat engrained into their current view of exercising / working out / physical activity. The media is full of statements similar to: "look better", "feel better", "turn every man's (or woman's) head". Unfortunately, these taglines are also filled with time periods such as "in 8 weeks", "in 10 days", or "in 6 mins".
Exercise can be beneficial to a person's quality of life, especially when it becomes a part of that individual's lifestyle.
This is true because there are many more benefits that come from regular physical activity than losing a few pounds. This morning made me remember one of those benefits.... quality of sleep.
Last week, I got in my sessions everyday. Since I'm not training for a specific marathon or triathlon right now, I have been doing a little cross training at The Underground Fitness Center. The cross training generally takes a little more out of me because my body is adjusting and adapting to something new. I also found that I was getting some pretty solid and deep sleep last week.
I mean, 8 to 9 hours of lights-out, nothing-gonna-wake-me-up sleep. The great thing about this type of sleep is that I wake up refreshed. With a little morning coffee, I'm ready to go from hour one of my day.
Back in 2002/2003, when I was training pretty heavy for a long period of time, I remember needing 10 hours of sleep every night. And every once in awhile, I would get 11 hours in! I honestly believe that my ability to get this much sleep helped my recovery during that period. And this pattern of sleep along with my approach to the long run ... is what allowed me to go from a 3:28 marathon to a 3:04 marathon.
In the courses that I've taken where we've studied sleep, I have always come away a little lost. It seems that all the ideas about why sleep is so important are still theoretical at this point. But they all point in the same direction. Sleep is good for your health.
Many people I know rarily get enough sleep because A) they don't make the time B) they don't have the time or C) they have problems getting to sleep when they have the time.
My suggestion... get back to exercising. It will help you get a better nights sleep and you'll get the weight management benefits as a bonus.
Exercise can be beneficial to a person's quality of life, especially when it becomes a part of that individual's lifestyle.
This is true because there are many more benefits that come from regular physical activity than losing a few pounds. This morning made me remember one of those benefits.... quality of sleep.
Last week, I got in my sessions everyday. Since I'm not training for a specific marathon or triathlon right now, I have been doing a little cross training at The Underground Fitness Center. The cross training generally takes a little more out of me because my body is adjusting and adapting to something new. I also found that I was getting some pretty solid and deep sleep last week.
I mean, 8 to 9 hours of lights-out, nothing-gonna-wake-me-up sleep. The great thing about this type of sleep is that I wake up refreshed. With a little morning coffee, I'm ready to go from hour one of my day.
Back in 2002/2003, when I was training pretty heavy for a long period of time, I remember needing 10 hours of sleep every night. And every once in awhile, I would get 11 hours in! I honestly believe that my ability to get this much sleep helped my recovery during that period. And this pattern of sleep along with my approach to the long run ... is what allowed me to go from a 3:28 marathon to a 3:04 marathon.
In the courses that I've taken where we've studied sleep, I have always come away a little lost. It seems that all the ideas about why sleep is so important are still theoretical at this point. But they all point in the same direction. Sleep is good for your health.
Many people I know rarily get enough sleep because A) they don't make the time B) they don't have the time or C) they have problems getting to sleep when they have the time.
My suggestion... get back to exercising. It will help you get a better nights sleep and you'll get the weight management benefits as a bonus.
posted by gary at 10:33 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home