The Importance Of A Good Night’s Sleep
30/10/2011
We should take advantage of the extra hour of sleep.
Many of us can relate to slamming the snooze button on your alarm clock or groaning at the sound of it and sleeping in until you’re very late. But if you’re tired enough to want to stay in bed all morning, it’s possible your body could be telling you to stay in bed, well at least for a little while.
The snooze button can play a vital role in healthy sleep management. Without good sleep, you’re more prone at developing chronic health conditionsn such as diabetes and heart disease.
Waking up tired is more likely to make you irritable, depressed, forgetful, accident-prone and most obviously sleepy. Even just one hour of sleep less than the recommended eight hours per night increases your chances of coming down with a cold.
So as the clocks go back, there are three reasons to spend that extra hour in bed.
You have been missing valuable sleep.
When you don’t get enough sleep consecutive nights in a row, you become increasingly tired. You should try to ensure your sleep debt does not get out of hand. This can be alleviated in small intervals by sleeping an extra hour or less every day until you’ve caught up. The Increments are important, as researchers have found that your body clock can be disrupted by oversleeping by more than one hour.
You are planning on not getting enough sleep.
If you know that you’re not going to get enough sleep during a busy period, pay it forward. A study found that people who stocked up on sleep prior to a sleepless week were more alert than their peers. The same rule applies to post deficit naps, so don’t add more than an hour of extra sleep onto your wake up time each day.
You are sleeping less in order to exercise
Exercising in the morning is a good habit as long as you don’t overdo it. The days when you wake up sluggish and have dreading thoughts of going to the gym are usually days when you’re tired, have not had enough sleep or days before you get sick. These days are actually the days you should think about skipping your fitness routine.
Ensure you give yourself that extra hour in lieu of exercise so that you can get back on track with your rest. This will also ensure you won’t have to skip future gyms days later.
Whatever your sleep habits are, make sure that the hours you sleep are of high quality.
If you exercise, do so at least three hours before bedtime. Make sure you get some sunshine in the day and avoid caffeine in the evening. Having a light snack late in the day can also help you sleep.