Sleep Needs: How Much Rest for Peak Performance
Did you know, a consistent lack of sleep can make your decision-making similar to that if you were drunk? Whether you need to perform for exams, your job, be alert for lectures or nail those meetings, we’ve got you covered here at Healthwords with tips on how to perform at your best. Read on to find out why you need at least 7 hours to perform your best and how to stay awake and alert when you need to.
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What makes a good night of sleep?
When you sleep, your body goes through 5 different sleep stages in approximately 90-minute cycles. It is around 5-6 of these cycles that make up a good night’s sleep and allow you to feel refreshed. These stages include deep sleep and rapid eye movement sleep (the stage of sleep when you dream). If you wake up in the middle of a 90 minute cycle you can feel quite groggy compared to waking up at the end of a cycle.
Seven to nine hours to perform at your best
The first few 90 minute cycles of sleep are where your body begins repairing as you spend more time in deep sleep. The latter cycles are mind repairing, when you spend more time in rapid eye movement sleep. The mind repairing cycles help with alertness, memory, emotional regulation, and all-around performance. This is why it's important to get a minimum of 5 cycles of continuous sleep to get in those mind-repairing cycles. This works out at around 7 and a half hours as a minimum with 9 hours being even better.
Tips for getting to sleep and staying asleep
Our top tips for falling asleep easily are focussed around sleep hygiene. Have a sleep routine, be exposed to sunlight in the day and try to block out all the light when you go to sleep. A sleep routine means aiming to go to bed and wake up at similar times every day, and yes I’m afraid this even means at the weekend! You should also avoid looking at your phone or laptop in the hour or two before you sleep as the blue light from the screens can block your body's natural sleep chemicals. Blocking out all the natural light in your bedroom will also help you stay asleep longer, other helpful tips can be to keep your bedroom cool and avoid any alcohol. Alcohol can make you fall to sleep quicker, but it actually makes the quality of your sleep worse meaning you may still wake up feeling tired.
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