CrossFit Koncepts

Many people have got their exercise and nutrition pretty well dialed in but do you have the third side of the triangle covered?  I'm talking about the most important and least emphasized aspect: sleep!  If you are training hard day in and day out, eating all the right stuff morning, noon and night, and not getting enough sleep you are not going to recover and never reach your athletic potential.

How can you fit in the right amount of sleep?  Easy - create a sleep ritual that you follow each and every day.  First: get up and go to sleep at the same time each and every day.  Vary it by a little bit to accommodate for weekend adventures and travel, but get in and out of bed at the same time every day. Second: turn off the television and the phone at least sixty minutes before going to sleep.  Screens of any kind, be it a television, tablet or phone, cause neural stimulation that excite the brain as opposed to calming it.  Turn it off and put it down.  Third: make your bedroom cool, dark, quiet and smell good.  Your best sleep will happen in a cool environment that is pitch black and quiet.  If you need some background noise try turning on a fan or get one of the white noise machines to help you block out ambient sounds. Finally: spend some time before you go to sleep to read a good book or make lists and plans for the next day.  This will allow you to easily segue into sleep mode with a relaxed mind and body.

NOTE: having trouble going to sleep and staying asleep?  Talk to your doctor and see if any medications that you are currently taking are messing with your sleep cycles.  Another idea is to keep a sleep journal to track how much and the quality of sleep you are getting (or not getting).  You'll be amazed at what you can find out from this simple exercise!