Sleep Your Way To Optimal Performance In Just 7 Days
Sleep. We all want it, but most of us don’t get enough of it. Perhaps it’s because you think you can short yourself and only feel the affects slightly, or you can recoup the lost sleep “tomorrow” or “this weekend.” And most of yes, yes MOST of us, are also guilty of being on some sort of device just before going to bed. I say guilty not to make you feel bad, but rather to highlight that the impact of looking at your iPhone, iPad or some other device before bed significantly impacts the restfulness of our slumber. Yes, significantly.
Please read the following article, “Sleep Your Way to Optimal Performance in Just 7 Days” posted last month on Robb Wolf’s blog and written by Dr. Kirk Parsley. If nothing else, take 7 days to try the sleep challenge and see what happens. If we can eat 100% clean for 30 days, I’m sure we can do something like focus more on our sleep for only 7. Read on…
It’s likely you have a copy of Robb’s Paleo Quick Start guide on your computer from your early days of following his blog and recommendations.
Written for those unclear on what it means to be “Paleo,” it’s two fast and furious pages—simple and blatant and very Robb Wolf. A download on Robb’s knowledge of evolutionary biology and analysis of the science being performed in regards to diet exists (as you know) in great depth, both in print and online, but the Quick Start Guide is meant to be a no-bullshit catapult toward better health and performance.
At its very essence, the guide is boiled down to a five-point flow chart. The first four tasks are these: Clean out the pantry, go shopping, cook and go for a walk. In one afternoon, you can fully launch yourself into the realm of an anti-inflammatory diet.
It’s the fifth and final point on the flow-chart I want to talk about: Sleep. Robb writes:
Black out your room. I mean REALLY black out your room. No LED lights from alarm clocks, fire alarms, TV’s, cell phones. Do not watch TV or check email for at least 1 hour before bed. Go to bed early, get at least 8-9 hrs of sleep. You should wake up without an alarm, feeling refreshed.