Sleep: an Underestimated yet Very Effective Tool for Recovery and Wellbeing.
- Elisabetta Brigo
- Sep 12, 2021
- 3 min read
Ok, so you got another back pain flare up. Or you’ve recently suffered an injury. Or you recently had a killer workout.
And now you’re probably freaking out a bit and you need some “miraculous cure” or a “quick fix” to help you boost your recovery and help you feel better fast.
Well, there’s something very effective, although too often overlooked that you could do to drastically help you:
SLEEP.
How well are you taking care of it?
If we don’t make sure to get enough quality sleep, we are much more likely to get injured and end up with chronic pain!
As a matter of fact:
⛔️Lack of quality sleep can lead to:
1️⃣ reduced COGNITIVE efficiency;
2️⃣ lack of MOTIVATION;
3️⃣ poor PERFORMANCE;
4️⃣ increased perception of EFFORT;
5️⃣ increased perception of PAIN;
6️⃣ hindered RECOVERY.
On the other hand,
✅Plenty of quality sleep can: 1️⃣ boost MEMORY and LEARNING abilities; 2️⃣ restore IMMUNE SYSTEM; 3️⃣ restore ENDOCRINE SYSTEM (i.e. hormones); 4️⃣ enhance RECOVERY; 5️⃣ help you FUNCTION at your best!
Now, think about that persistent pain that keeps bothering you and ask yourself: how’s your sleep been lately?
Excellent? ….Or disturbed, not long enough and very poor?🤔
Think about it…
⛔️ As we saw, sleep disturbances can increase our sensitivity to pain, AND also mess up our hormones, cognitive functions and overall health!😱
✅ Instead, high-quality sleep can drastically reduce the risk of injury by optimizing training and recovery: in fact, studies have shown that athletes that slept more than 8 hours per night would reduce the risk of injury by a huge 61%!!
In other words:
Don’t underestimate the power of sleep!
Now you may be wondering: “Ok, this is all cool. But HOW can I take better care of my sleep?“.
Well, I got you!
So here’s 8 tips to help you get better-quality sleep at night: 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
1️⃣Sleep in a DARK ROOM, with no source of light present; 2️⃣Sleep in a completely SILENT environment: our Brain cannot properly rest if there’s noise while we sleep; 3️⃣Keep the TEMPERATURE of your bedroom not too hot and too cold, otherwise it will interfere with your sleep (around 18°C-21°C should be fine); 4️⃣Have a CONSISTENT SLEEPING SCHEDULE: try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day (weekends included!); 5️⃣AVOID COFFEE 6H before going to sleep: the effect of caffeine can last up to 6h, so if you’re planning to go to sleep at 10pm, you should stop drinking coffee by 4pm; 6️⃣AVOID SCREEN TIME right before going to bed: blue light coming from smartphones, TVs, tablets and computers can interfere with melatonin secretion and our circadian rhythm. 7️⃣Taking a NAP is totally fine, as long as you keep those naps about 15-30 minutes long and don’t nap after mid-afternoon, closer to bedtime; 8️⃣AVOID EATING/DRINKING too much before going to bed: lying down with a overly full stomach can cause reflux and indigestion, which can make it harder to sleep.
There you have it: if you want to relieve those nagging pains and aches, and improve your health, take advantage of this free, very effective and very low-hanging fruit called SLEEP!
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Thanks for Reading!
– Elisabetta Brigo
Registered Physiotherapist
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