The Skinny on Sleep (and naps)...

Blanket statement:  You sleep too little.  

Waking up tired is a terrible feeling, spending your day tired is even worse.  Nothing ruins a day more than thinking about bedtime immediately after your alarm goes off.  Unfortunately, many of us spend our days in a sleep deprived haze . 

1.  Benefits of Sleep.  

This could fill volumes...here are some of the biggest hits:

1. Heart Health:  Sleeping reduces the work load of your body, giving the cardiovascular system a much needed rest from the constant pumping, processing, and oxygenating that our bodies require.
2. Stress Reduction:  Sleeping reduces blood pressure, as well as the the stress hormone Corstisol (which by the way can increase fat retention).  
3. Improved Memory: Your brain needs time to relax.  Zoning out to Reality TV, or listening to music is insufficient; the brain is constantly stimulated.  However, sleep lets the brain slow down and play (i.e. dream), relaxing a bit. 
4. Controls Body Weight:  Sleep deprivation leads to hormone imbalances (see #2).  This can make weight loss more difficult, and muscle development even harder.
5. Maintain Even Temper:  Adequate sleep can prevent dramatic mood swings.  Think about every movie centered around new parents - they're tired and stressed out.  This leads to lashing out (often comedically) at their spouse or partner.  Unfortunately, in real life lashing doesn't ever seem to end in hilarity.  

2.  Assuring Good Sleep.  

1. Avoid excessive alcohol within a few hours of bedtime.
2. Avoid caffeine (which includes chocolate) within a few hours of bedtime.
3. Exercise regularly and with intensity - just not right before bedtime.
4. Go to sleep and get up at the same time every day (even on weekends).  This establishes a pattern.  Our bodies love patterns.  
5. Drink tea or take a hot bath an hour or so before bed.  Try scented bath oil.
6. Drink plenty of water.  Why waste precious sleep time waking up for a glass of water at 3:00 a.m.?
7. Load your calories early in the day and slowly reduce your caloric intake as the day progresses.  A body in "digestion mode" is not a body in "sleep mode".
8. Don't read on your phone or wireless device before bed - the light from the screen can disrupt your biorhtym  Also - try  to keep your phone, computer, iPad, pager (if you actually still have one), iPod, or lap top out of the bedroom.  

3.  Your Bedroom;

1. Dark and quiet.  
2. If you have thoughts running through your head, turn on a fan or other white noise.  This gives the brain something to focus on, so you body can fall asleep.
3. TV Off - at bedtime.  Watch before bed if you need to.
4. Make sure you have a good bed, good bedding, and good pillows.

4.  Sex and Sleep:

1. This is your bedroom's primary purpose - focus on them when you're in bed.

5.  Naps:

1. Naps are awesome in every way.  Take one whenever you need.  Naps increase your productivity, mental clarity, mood, focus, and metabolism.  Ideally, no less than 20 minutes and no longer than about 30.  Too short and you wake up feeling worse, too long and you risk trouble falling asleep at night.

Sleep is important.  Saying you "only got 4 hours of sleep" last night doesn't make you cool, it doesn't make you tough.  It makes you prone to heart disease, weight gain, mood swings, and memory loss - all things that suck.   Don't be that guy.

Be the guy who is heart disease-free, of a healthy weight with an even mood and has instant recall of important facts (and all the useless ones that make you so much fun at parties).

Remember: "If you've got it, flaunt it.  If you don't, get it with us."