Monday 3-17-14

In teams of...

2 - Row 5,000 meters (60 sec on 60 sec off)
3 - Row 7,500 meters (30 sec on 60 sec off)
4 - Row 10,000 meters (20 sec on 60 sec off)

Score is total time it takes your team to row the required amount of meters.

Catching Some Z’s

The Do’s and Don’ts of Sleep and Its Relationship to Performance

By Alex Boulware

“Exercise, nutrition, and sleep make a virtuous circle comprising the three essential elements of fitness” (Rawls-Meegan p. 3). With that being said, how would you prioritize those elements of fitness? Would nutrition or sleep come first, or would exercise dominate the first spot as an essential element of your fitness lifestyle? Most people, including myself, do not think about how sleep directly affects performance, but rather how sleep makes them feel; whether they feel irritable or tired when they did not get enough sleep or feel better when they sleep more. But how much sleep is “enough” and does sleeping more necessarily mean you get a good night’s sleep?

Unlike many other workout or nutrition plans in today’s society, CrossFit’s workout approach and principle Paleo nutrition plan are based on science and are continually evolving in providing strong results. This is due to the fact that both are constantly tested and proved throughout the CrossFit community and have resulted in nothing short of enhanced athletic performance (p. 2). Workout methods and nutrition play a big role in regards to performance, but one element of importance that tends to be extremely overlooked by athletes is sleep.

In addition to workout methods and nutrition, research regarding sleep and its affects on performance has undergone a revolution. Studies have shown that “good sleep is one of the most important elements of health maintenance as well as athletic performance and improvement”. A study that used “National Football League game data over a time span of 30 years demonstrated that teams that traveled and experienced disrupted sleep and exercise schedules were 67% more likely to lose”, showing that athletes who experience lack of sleep are at risk for lower levels of performance (p. 3). Not only is performance greatly affected, but lack of sleep likewise causes decreased judgment, irritability, and diseases such as obesity and diabetes. On the other hand, athletes who do get enough sleep see improvement in strength, speed, agility, and reaction time, plus better muscle memory. In order to see these direct results of increased performance in the gym, athletes need to get enough sleep alongside training and eating right. Without adequate sleep, hard work put into workouts is wasted and the body cannot recover and achieve its maximum potential (p. 3).

In order to achieve this potential, there are a few steps that you can consider regarding your personal sleep schedule. First, you have to acknowledge the fact that sleep will become a serious and essential part of training. Second, you need to “block out” at least nine hours of sleep each day, but ideally 10. “You might not actually sleep that long, but that should be your goal. We often fall short of what we set out to do, so if you set out to do nine, you might only get eight, which is basically the minimum for an athlete” (p. 5). Nevertheless, everyone is different regarding how much sleep they need as an individual whether it be the recommended 10 hours of sleep, more, or less.

How do you know if the amount of sleep you are getting each day is enough? According to Martin Rawls-Meehan and the CrossFit Journal, “If you consistently wake up feeling good without an alarm clock, that is a strong sign you’re close to where you need to be in terms of sleep”(p. 5). Also, some tips that will help you sleep better at night include eating healthier, performing workouts in the late afternoon or earlier in the night, and keeping your room dark, quiet, and cool. Doing otherwise can interrupt sleeping patterns and cause poor sleep. Caffeine should also be avoided in the early afternoon, do not eat a huge meal before 3 hours of your time of sleep, and do not watch anything on an electronic screen immediately before bed such as a TV or cell phone screen. Additionally it is highly recommended to get the right mattress considering “you spend one-third of your life in bed, so it’s worth it to get the right system”, meaning a mattress made with natural materials and customizable softness/firmness levels is obsolete to reaching full sleeping potential (p. 6).

In conclusion, it takes much discipline and effort to sleep better, and doing so will not only help you feel healthier but also result in significant improvements in performance. Make sure to acknowledge the importance of sleep, create a goal to sleep a certain amount each day, follow the tips provided, and with that will come improvements in performance and gains in the gym!