How Sleep Affects Our Day To Day Life

Posted on February 3, 2023 by admin

We are always told that sleep is a super important part of life. However, sleep affects so much more than just if we are feeling tired or not. This plays an important role in recovery, hormone regulation and much much more. In this blog post we are going to share some sleep tips, how a lack of sleep affects you and how sleep affects your recovery and hormones.

How Does Sleep Affect Hormone Regulation and Secretion?

Sleep has a significant impact on hormone regulation and secretion in the human body. During sleep, several hormones are produced, including:

Melatonin: A hormone that regulates the sleep-wake cycle and helps you feel sleepy at night.
Growth hormone: A hormone important for growth and repair, which is released during deep sleep.
Cortisol: A hormone that regulates metabolism, stress response, and immune function, which follows a daily pattern with highest levels in the morning and lowest levels at night.

On the other hand, sleep deprivation can disrupt the normal patterns of hormone production and secretion, leading to hormonal imbalances. For example:

Increased cortisol levels: Chronic sleep deprivation can lead to elevated cortisol levels, which can contribute to weight gain, decreased immune function, and higher stress levels.
Decreased insulin sensitivity: Lack of sleep can reduce insulin sensitivity, leading to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
Altered levels of hunger hormones: Sleep deprivation can alter levels of hormones that regulate hunger and fullness, such as leptin and ghrelin, leading to increased appetite and weight gain.

Therefore, it’s important to have regular and adequate sleep to maintain hormonal balance and overall health.

How Does Poor Sleep Affect You?

Poor sleep can have several negative effects on your physical and mental health, including:

Fatigue: Lack of sleep can make you feel tired and sluggish during the day, affecting your energy levels, mood, and ability to concentrate.
Impaired cognitive function: Poor sleep can affect your memory, attention, and ability to think clearly, making it difficult to perform daily tasks.
Increased stress: Lack of sleep can increase stress levels and make it harder to cope with life’s challenges.
Weakened immune system: Poor sleep can weaken the immune system, making it easier to catch colds, flu, and other infections.
Mood changes: Lack of sleep can affect your mood, leading to feelings of irritability, depression, and anxiety.
Increased risk of chronic diseases: Poor sleep has been linked to an increased risk of several chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.
Weight gain: Sleep deprivation can disrupt hormone levels, leading to increased appetite and weight gain.

Therefore, it’s important to have regular, adequate sleep to maintain physical and mental well-being.

Does My Sleep Impact My Recovery?

Sleep plays a crucial role in recovery from exercise. Adequate and quality sleep can help the body recover and repair after physical activity. Here’s how sleep affects recovery from exercise:

Muscle repair and growth: During sleep, growth hormone is released, which helps to repair damaged muscle tissue and support muscle growth.
Energy restoration: Sleep helps restore energy levels, allowing you to be more physically active during the day.
Improved immune function: Sleep can strengthen the immune system, reducing the risk of illness and infection after exercise.
Reduced inflammation: Sleep has anti-inflammatory effects, which can help reduce muscle soreness and other symptoms of overuse.
Improved athletic performance: Regular and adequate sleep can improve athletic performance by enhancing reaction time, coordination, and overall endurance.

In contrast, poor sleep can impair recovery from exercise, making it harder to reach your fitness goals. It can also increase the risk of injury and slow down the healing process after a workout. Therefore, it’s important to prioritise sleep and aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep per night to support recovery from exercise.

Top Tips For A Good Night’s Sleep

Here are some tips to help you get a good night’s sleep:

Establish a consistent sleep routine: Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends, to regulate your circadian rhythm.
Create a sleep-conducive environment: Keep your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet, and invest in a comfortable mattress and pillows.
Limit exposure to screens: The blue light emitted by electronic devices can interfere with sleep, so avoid screens for at least an hour before bedtime.
Exercise regularly: Regular physical activity can help improve sleep quality and promote a deeper sleep.
Avoid caffeine and alcohol: Caffeine and alcohol can interfere with sleep, so it’s best to avoid them in the hours leading up to bedtime.
Relax before bed: Engage in relaxing activities such as reading, stretching, or taking a warm bath to help wind down before bed.
Reduce fluid intake before bedtime: Avoid drinking too much fluid before bedtime to minimize trips to the bathroom during the night.
Avoid napping during the day: Napping during the day can interfere with nighttime sleep, so it’s best to limit daytime naps to 20-30 minutes.

By following these tips, you can improve your sleep quality and get the restful, rejuvenating sleep your body needs to function at its best.

How Much Sleep Do I Need?

The amount of sleep a person needs can vary depending on age, lifestyle, and overall health. However, the National Sleep Foundation recommends the following guidelines:

Newborns (0-3 months): 14-17 hours of sleep per day
Infants (4-11 months): 12-15 hours of sleep per day
Toddlers (1-2 years): 11-14 hours of sleep per day
Preschoolers (3-5 years): 10-13 hours of sleep per day
School-aged children (6-13 years): 9-11 hours of sleep per day
Teenagers (14-17 years): 8-10 hours of sleep per day
Adults (18-64 years): 7-9 hours of sleep per day
Older adults (65 years and older): 7-8 hours of sleep per day

It’s important to note that these are general guidelines, and the amount of sleep you need may be more or less depending on your individual needs. The best way to determine how much sleep you need is to pay attention to how you feel after a full night’s sleep and make adjustments as needed. If you are feeling rested, alert, and focused during the day, then you are likely getting enough sleep.

Get in contact with us to see how we can help with your recovery or book in now!

Top Tips To Recover From Exercise Quickly

Posted on October 22, 2021 by admin

After exercise we are often faced with muscle soreness and pain; otherwise known as DOMS. Check out my last blog post to find out more about delayed onset of muscle soreness here. In this post I will give you some tips on how you can help aid your recovery with simple processes and routines. Improving these aspects will help you recover quicker!

How to reduce recovery time following exercise?

There are several areas that you can focus on to make sure that you can make your recovery as optimal as possible. However, remember that even when you optimise your recovery you can still suffer with muscle pain. The biggest thing here is to give your body the best chance to repair the damaged muscles and allow for the adaptations. So the areas you will want to concentrate on are:

Hydration
Diet
Sleep
Alternative Treatment
Active Recovery

How to hydrate after exercise?

We all know that we should be drinking a minimum of 2 litres of water a day. However, if we are exercising at a high intensity we are going to sweat and lose fluid. Therefore, we need to consume more fluid to allow ourselves a chance to rehydrate. You are probably sat there thinking, well obviously; but did you know that being in a state of dehydration will slow down your muscle recovery? The process of muscle synthesis is slowed down until the body is rehydrated, therefore prolonging your time for recovery!

What should I eat after exercise?

Following exercise you should look to consume a food with a high carbohydrate content. Depending on the type of exercise you have just done, your glycogen stores are likely to be depleted. Having a carbohydrate snack within 30 minutes of exercise finishing can really help to improve recovery times. To improve recovery times even more, have a protein snack alongside this too.

Does sleep help me to recover?

Absolutely! Getting enough sleep is key in the recovery from injury or exercise. When you sleep, your body releases more hormones such as, human growth hormone. When this is released it helps with the rebuilding and repair phase in the muscles. So getting your 8-hours is key. Therefore, try to switch off from your phones/laptops at least 30 minutes before bed so you can just fall asleep quickly and effortlessly!

How will massage help me to recover?

The key aspect when having a massage for recovery is that it isn’t too deep. The best massage to have to help you to recover is one that finds the balance between a deep-tissue massage and a spa style relaxing massage. Massage will help to increase blood flow to an area, relax the muscles and remove any waste products sat within the muscles. Therefore, why not try it?

What is an active recovery?

An active recovery is the performance of low intensity activity following a strenuous bout of exercise. This will help to keep the blood flowing through the muscles and tissues. Therefore, the muscles will have a continued supply of nutrients and vitamins to help them recover quicker! Aim to keep your heart rate between 30-60% of you maximum heart rate for the best results. There are so many different ways in which an active recovery can take place. The list below will mention a few types of active recovery.

Swimming
Cycling
Brisk Walk

Can I Use Supplements To Help Me Recover Better?

Posted on October 8, 2021 by admin

In short, yes. Of course you can. In the market today there is a wide variety of products that you can pick and choose from that all do a variety of different things. Whether they help with the preparation or recovery phase of your exercise will depend on what you take. In this blog post, I will try to outline a few different types of supplements, what they do, and how they can help or hinder you.

What do supplements do?

Supplements do exactly what they say, they supplement your diet. They are not a replacement. Supplements can do a whole host of different things, depending on the type of supplement you are taking. Whether you are taking protein powder to increase your protein intake or taking a fruit and greens supplement to boost your intake of micronutrients. They will all look to improve your performance and recovery in their own way. Supplementing your diet can help with:

Recovery
Performance
Concentration
Immune Function
Overall Health

What are the different types of supplements?

There are too many supplement varieties to list out, so we will concentrate on just a few. Supplements will come in powder form, tablet, gummy sweet style and drinks. The list below outlines a few different supplements that you can take.

Protein – This is usually taken in powder form and will increase your daily protein intake through a shake. We will talk about choosing the right protein later in this post.
Creatine – This is a substance naturally found in our bodies that is key in the role of energy production. This can be taken in powder or tablet form. Supplementing this, will increase your bodies stores on phosphocreatine and increase production of ATP.
BCAA + EAA’s – This is branch chain amino acids and essential amino acids. These help with muscle rebuilding after exercise.
Pre-Workout – A caffeine supplement that can help improve concentration and performance in an athletic setting. Air on the side of caution with pre-workout though, as some are very potent!
Vitamins – As we all know vitamins are fantastic for us! You may look to supplement this to increase your intake. For example, a lack of sunlight can lead to a vitamin D deficiency.

How will a BCAA and EAA supplement affect me?

BCAA’s have been shown to reduce the protein breakdown throughout the whole body, which is key to preserve lean muscle. Whilst it has also been shown that BCAA’s can help to decrease body fat percentage. On the other hand EAA’s have been shown to improve lean body mass too. They aid in the muscle protein synthesis process following exercise, to counteract the muscle breakdown caused through intense physical activity. This is a great supplement to use for muscle recovery.

How do I choose the right protein supplement for me?

The protein powder that is best for you is the one that will help you hit your goals. Whether you are looking to lose weight, increase muscle mass or to maintain your current physique; you need to be careful what you select.

Increase Muscle Mass – Aim to get a Whey Protein or a Whey Isolate Protein. These are easily digested and absorbed by the body.
Lose Weight – You will want to get a protein powder that is low in sugars. This will take a bit of looking around. Most respectable supplement companies will tell you exactly what is inside each product.
Muscle Repair – Look for a powder with a high amount of protein.

Don’t rush into getting a protein powder. You can easily supplement your protein intake through your diet. Look at eating more fish, eggs and consume more milk! Start tracking your dietary intake before purchasing expensive supplements!

Can I still recover quickly without supplements?

Absolutely! If you are already having a healthy, balanced diet, you will be surprised with your current intake of your macronutrients. Many people rush into getting supplements, when really it isn’t needed yet. Your recovery will depend on you. Eating right, staying hydrated, working on your mobility and not overtraining will help you. Take a step back and look at your current lifestyle, are you pre-disposing yourself to injury? Or can you optimise your recovery without supplements?

Feel free to contact us, we are more than happy to answer any questions on supplements that you may have.

Can CBD help with my pain and injury?

Posted on February 4, 2021 by admin

Many people have negative connotations when it comes to CBD. In actual fact regular consumption of CBD can provide real benefits towards your mental and physical health along with recovery.

What is CBD?

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a cannabinoid found in hemp and cannabis. It is a naturally occurring, safe, non-toxic and non-psychoactive compound. Alongside THC and CBG, this the most commonly researched compounds in cannabis. However, unlike cannabis, when CBD is taken by itself it does not produce a ‘high’. The World Health Organisation reported that “In humans, CBD exhibits no effects indicative of any abuse or dependence potential. To date, there is no evidence of public health related problems associated with the use of pure CBD.”

Is it legal to be bought and sold?

In the UK, CBD is completely legal to be bought and sold. However, what you should look for is the product is regulated by the Cannabis Trade Association.

CBD is a legal supplement if the value for THC is less than 0.2%. There will be no psychoactive effects from CBD. With this product being safe for the consumption for humans and animals.

What impact can it play on pain and recovery?

There are many areas that CBD can affect. Our bodies contain a system called the endocannabinoid system. This system controls our sleep, appetite, pain and immune system. When you regular consume CBD you can see a huge change in your mental and physical health. With the pain aspect the CBD reduces the interactions the endocannabinoid receptors have with the neurotransmitters. This in-turn leads to a reduction in pain and inflammation. A huge area of recovery is sleep, if you are an insomniac you are missing out on free recovery, let CBD help.

CBD to relieve muscle pain — Relieve Muscle Pain

Decreases inflammation
Manages pain
Reduces anxiety
Increases appetite
Helps with insomnia

Where can I buy my CBD from?

We have taken the leg work out of finding a great product for you. The people over at Your Health Calculator take health and fitness seriously. They only look to supply the best products and great value to get you achieving sooner. They offer a variety of different CBD products, so no matter what you choice of consumption they have you sorted. Check out their great CBD products here.