Can we talk about something?
Let's talk about SLEEP!
Years ago I was a BIG Polar fan (I still am really ~ it's a great fitness tracker), but when my last one went out I spent literally the last few years trying to decide which one I was going to get next. The chest straps were very quickly going away ~ which I really struggled with. I mean, how were they going to be remotely accurate if they didn't use a chest strap to track your hear rate, right? Well, recently I finally just bought one ~ the Fitbit Versa. I made a decision - I know, shocking. It may not be the "perfect" one for me, but I committed & so far I really like it. The one thing I was really interested in with the new wave of fitness trackers was the sleep evaluation.
I will admit it ~ I am not good at it, sleep that is. I tend to always find one more thing to do, I have trouble shutting down, I have trouble staying down. Sound familiar? I am pretty sure I am not alone. In my days (my 14 hour days) of working in a gym I knew I wasn't getting enough sleep, I wasn't going to bed early enough, I would come home & spend the last hour or 2 with my family, then there was laundry, a bit of cleaning up & prepping for the next day. I would crash into my bed at 11:30pm or midnight & be up again the next morning at 4:30am - every day.
Since I have stepped away from the "big gym" world in pursuit of better work/life balance I have tried to be better. Go to bed earlier. I definitely don't have to get up quite as early as I used to any more. I am not always perfect, but I am working on it. Well let me get back to what I have learned over the last few months of being the owner and user of a fitness tracker that also tracks my sleep.
I really DO need 8 hours of sleep! I was able to get away at the end of the summer for a quick family vacation. We had 5 days & 4 nights without a huge schedule & were able to relax some. It was needed for all of us before going back to college, high school & middle school for the kids & just for the adults to have a quick break from work. Three of the Four nights I did not have to set an alarm - on the last day the girls & I did have to get up & leave earlier to get to an afternoon appointment back in town. But for THREE nights ~ NO alarm. Guess what? On those three nights I naturally slept 8 hours & I felt AMAZING! My body really does need 8 hours!
Laying down for 8 hours does NOT mean 8 hours of sleep. What?!?! You mean if I lay down at 10pm & get up at 6am I might not get the full 8 hours of sleep? Well, not for me anyways. One thing I have learned in reviewing the feedback I get from my fitness tracker is that I don't sleep all night long. I have periods where I am awake that range from 45 to 90 minutes typically. I took an average over the last 5 nights and I averaged 63 minutes of "awake" time. That's over an hour each night & it could be worse if I have a lot on my mind, or if the dog wakes up, or if I have to use the restroom - there are so many reasons! But laying down for 8 hours does NOT equal 8 hours of sleep for me!
Realizing this and understanding that I need to actually be IN BED longer than the 8 hours I would like to get for sleep has been HUGE for me. Again, I am not there yet, but I am still working on it. So as soon as I finish this blog post - it's lights out for me!
Wishing you all a restful night's sleep!
Michelle Peacock, NSCA~CPT
mpeacockcpt94@gmail.com
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