Take 10: Take-and-Save
by James A. Peterson, Ph.D., FACSM* |
10 Ways to Get A Better Night's Sleep
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| 1. Exercise regularly in the late afternoon. |
 | Exercise for at least 30 minutes at least six hours before
bedtime. Such a regimen will cause your body temperature to rise
when exercising, but drop by the time you're ready to sleep.
This cooling effect has been shown to promote sleep. |
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| 2. Establish a sleep schedule. |
| Reinforce your natural sleep rhythms by going to bed every night and
getting up at the same time each morning (including weekends.)
Disrupting your natural rhythms can lead to insomnia. |
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| 3. Reduce the stress level in your life. |
| Stress-related problems and issues can affect both the quality and
the quantity of sleep you get. To the extent possible, get
control of your life. Put things into perspective. On the
other hand, if such stress-related factors are leading to restlessness
in bed, try employing relaxation techniques to induce a more peaceful,
serene state of mind (i.e., try imagining yourself in a relaxing
place, such as lying on a tropical beach.) |
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| 4. Lower the temperature in your bedroom. |
| As a rule, keep the temperature in your bedroom slightly lower than
in the rest of the house. Furthermore, when it's hot, don't be
reluctant to use your air conditioner, as needed, to bring the
temperature down fare enough. Research indicates that people who
have trouble sleeping often aren't warm enough during the day or cool
enough at night. |
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| 5. Restrict your intack of liquids before bedtime. |
| Try to avoid drinking any liquids for at least two hours before you
go to bed, so that your bladder doesn't fill up and wake you in the
night. If you want to drink something, try a glass of warm
milk. It contains a substance (l-tryptophan) that promotes
sleep. |
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| 6. Avoid snacking on heavy, spicy, or high-fat foods
before bedtime. |
| Such foodstuffs can cause acidity and heartburn while you sleep and
interfere with the quality of your sleep. |
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| 7. Reduce your intake of caffeine. |
| Drinking (e.g. coffee, soft drinks, etc.) or eating foods (e.g.
chocolate that contain caffeine within six hours of going to bed can
keep you awake. Caffeine is a stimulant that can delay the onset of
sleep. Caffeine has also been found to disturb that phase of
sleeping during which dreaming usually occurs. |
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| 8. Avoid alcohol near bedtime. |
| While alcohol may help you fall to sleep more quickly, it may also
lead to you to awakening periodically during the night. Furthermore,
as the effects of alcohol wear off, your brain actually becomes more
alert. |
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| 9. Don't catnap during the day. |
| Taking naps to catch up on sleep only tends to make you less sleepy
at night. |
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| 10. Be wary of using sleep-inducing pills. |
| Not only do they not solve whatever underlying problems that may be disrupting
your sleep, sleeping pills can have serious side effects (even the
over-the-counter preparations.) Furthermore, their use poses several
health-related risks. For example, once you use them, it is possible
to become addicted to them. |
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| *James A.
Peterson, Ph.D., FACSM, is a freelance writer and consultant in sports
medicine. From 1990 until 1995, Dr. Peterson has director-of-sports
medicine with StairMaster. Until that time he was professor of physical
education at the United States Military Academy. This article was
reprinted from ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal® November
/ December 1999, and is posted with consent for our online students,
clients, and patients. |
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