Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Catching some Zs


As I mentioned in the last post, sleep has taken a high priority in my life. I just picked up TS Wiley's book LIGHTS OUT, Sleep, Sugar, and Survival, a well-researched look into the long-term health effects that sleep deprivation has on today's society. Wiley does an excellent job of arguing how lack of sleep can be at the root of many modern diseases. In the short time that I've been reading it, I have learned to appreciate the important role sleep has in my health. While we all know that we feel better after a good nights sleep, most of us short ourselves on our daily rest. Now that I’m back at school I really have to learn to manage my time so that I don’t have to sacrifice sleep.

And what a more appropriate time to begin my hibernation than fall? Unless you’ve been living entirely indoors for the past 30 days, you may be fully aware that summer is officially over. This means the hours of sunlight are becoming less and less. Naturally, the body makes its own adjustments to conform to its surrounding environment that is rarely constant. This typically translates into early bedtimes and sleeping in late -the body's attempt to conserve energy for the ensuing winter months. I think it's important to not resist this natural inclination to want to sleep more; it's the body's way of communicating that it NEEDS MORE SLEEP! I've definitely been guilty of guzzling down loads of coffee to ward off the yawns but that simply just won’t do any more, especially since I've sworn off coffee. The point is that adequate sleep is an important component to a healthy lifestyle and I plan on getting in on some!

Sleep Log
Monday 9.25
Tuesday 9
Wednesday 7.25

Yesterday’s Workout
Backsquat 5x5 #118
Benchpress 5x5 #96
Finisher: FGB 224 total score
(this was 5 reps short of my PR, but not bad considering I really haven’t been doing any metcons).
May you have a restful night of sleep!

1 comment:

Mike Minium said...

I was gonna leave an insightful comment, but I fell asleep after reading your post.

Your genes load the gun but your lifestyle pulls the trigger. -Dr. Houston