Hey everyone, this is your health bestie Barbara!
Did you know that improving your sleep efficiency by 10% can transform your energy levels, reduce stress, and boost mental clarity? Let’s dive into how to make every minute of sleep count!
In the last article we discussed how to maintain health in our 40s. We compared this to our 20s and 30s and gave tips to continue the momentum into our 50s and beyond.
Along this journey of mine, I started wearing a Whoop biometric tracking device. The device tracks performance metrics with a focus on recovery, strain and sleep.
In this article we will discuss the benefits of a good nights rest. We will discuss common sleep trends to be aware of and how to improve sleep performance.
How consistent are your sleep and wake times?
What is Sleep Efficiency and Why it Matters?
When I really began tracking my sleep using the whoop health monitor, most of my stress came from sleep. It was as if my body held onto stress until I dozed off. Usually after an hour or two of sleep my stress level would peak. Then every 2 hrs my stress would peak until I finally woke up.
I yawned throughout the day because I didn’t sleep well at night. Gradually I paid attention to my sleep and began to make changes. Every change I made seemed to improve my sleep. My stress levels decreased and I experienced a feeling of well being throughout the day.
We will begin our discussion with sleep efficiency.
Sleep efficiency is the percent of time in bed where you actually sleep. The time asleep while in bed can help the quality of sleep. 85% or better is good. The quality of your sleep affects your body’s circadian rhythm, sleep performance and restorative sleep.
How to Create the Perfect Sleep Environment
To improve sleep efficiency create a space where you enjoy sleeping. An ideal sleep environment includes low noise and light. Bright lights decrease the production of melatonin and can impact the ability to sleep. A comfortable mattress and bedding is important as well.
Focus on sleep as the primary activity in the room. My sleep improved when I removed my books, writing materials and nonsleep items from my bedroom.
Keep your work in another room and have a designated area specifically for work.
What steps have you taken to create a relaxing sleep environment?
These days many of us work from home. This is convenient. At the same time, we never truly get to step away from it. We may find it difficult to unwind and relax because we are constantly surrounded by work in our bedroom, kitchen and other rooms of our home.
What is Sleep Consistency?
Sleep consistency can impact sleep efficiency. The body performs best when it has a regular schedule. Your body will begin to anticipate your sleep-wake cycle. It will begin to shut down and prepare for sleep if you go to sleep at a similar time each day. This includes the weekends.
A consistent schedule can include similar sleep-wake times and daily eating. It can also include a consistent exercise time and decreased light exposure after dark. Aim for 90% or greater consistency in your schedule. I will provide an example of sleep efficiency.
If you aim for 8 hours of sleep each night and go to bed at 8 pm, a 10% variance means that you go to sleep within 48 minutes of 8 pm. This is roughly between 7:15 pm and 8:45 pm each night.
A 90% consistency in your schedule would mean if you have 10 items planned for the day, then you complete 9 of those items.
Sleep Efficiency Works Together with Sleep Consistency
Sleep efficiency and sleep consistency can impact how prepared and ready you feel in the morning. In the final portion of this article we will discuss REM and provide a quick tip to improve sleep performance.
Setting aside extra time for sleep can be a challenge. On a daily basis, we try our best to fit in time for work, family, and exercise. It can be helpful to turn the activities that you do into family time. When you exercise include the kids. When you recycle and make healthy food choices this is a great opportunity to explain to your family why you are making these choices.
Sleep is important. Everyone in the family can benefit from understanding how to maximize their sleep. It affects all areas of our life.
The Science of Sleep Stages
WHOOP research indicates a gain of 5-10% in mental control each day by spending an extra 30 minutes in the slow wave or deep sleep stage. Small changes in sleep duration can affect mental acuity and key cognitive skills. These skills include making decisions and focusing on tasks.
Sleep consists of four stages:
- Slow wave sleep (SWS)
- REM – Rapid Eye Movement Sleep
- Light Sleep
- Awake
Each stage serves a different purpose in your recovery.
While in bed you may be awake, many of us take a few minutes after lying down to go to sleep. The next stage is light sleep.
Slow Wave Sleep, is also known as Deep sleep. This is where the body restores muscular, cellular and skeletal systems.
REM – Rapid Eye Movement Sleep
Rapid Eye Movement Sleep is also known as REM. This is the stage where the body consolidates memory and learning. The brain becomes active during this time and dreams occur. It also helps to regulate our emotions.
Sleep is more than lying in bed for a third of your life. This is a time when your body repairs itself and converts short term memory into life long learning and lessons.
Chronic health conditions, the amount of time we allow for sleep and sleep consistency all have an effect on our sleep performance.
Improve your sleep efficiency by 5% to sharpen your focus and elevate your mood throughout the day.
Practical Tip for Better Sleep Performance
Here is a quick way to prepare to sleep:
Body Scan to Prepare for Sleep
After you lie down. Take a moment to scan yourself. Start at your feet and work upwards toward the top of your head. As you perform this complete body scan, observe any tenseness in the body. Take a moment to release the tension that has built up there. Give your body permission to let go.
The feet, hands, shoulder, neck and face can be prone to hold onto tension.
Now you are ready for a good night’s sleep!
As we end this article, I want to share a report about the stats provided by the Whoop device. Dr. Sairam Parthasarathy, MD, who is a professor of medicine at the UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson and director of the Center for Sleep and Circadian Sciences performed tests to compare the Whoop device to the gold-standard measurements of polysomnography. He concluded, “the accuracy of WHOOP as a wearable and its availability compared to the limited accessibility of polysomnography may in the future facilitate better population-health management.”
The study confirms the exceptional ability of WHOOP to measure heart rate and respiratory rate during sleep. It also reveals that WHOOP is within one heartbeat and breath per minute of gold-standard measurements. WHOOP is the first wearable to publish performance in these two dimensions and is near-perfect in its accuracy.
Sleep is key to recovery and one of the best things people can do to improve their mental and physical health. It’s vital that wearable devices are as accurate as possible. Consider the immense value of sleep and the widespread adoption of these tracking tools. The results validate the sleep accuracy of WHOOP. It also demonstrates the power of WHOOP to change behavior and transform health.
The Whoop smart device provides real time data for preventive health. It enhances One’s ability to manage health proactively. Of course you will always want to include your health care professional and this device can help in this process. It has sharing features which enable you to share your health stats with your health team.
In this article we discussed, sleep efficiency, sleep stages and shared a way to release the stress of the day as you go to sleep.
By making gradual changes to my sleep I began to eliminate stress. I reduced my sleepiness during the day. I felt more prepared to meet the challenges of the day.
Share your favorite sleep tips or your experience using wearable tech for health in the comments or tag me on X at Solo_Health. I’d love to hear from you!
In the next article we’ll explore how breathwork helped Navy SEALs stay calm under pressure—and how it can work wonders for you too. Learn to make every breath count!
Health is the foundation of everything. Start with sleep, take small steps, and let me help you navigate the amazing world of health and wellness. Until next time, this is your health bestie, Barbara, reminding you:
Every day can be a healthy day. Sweet dreams!
Links
Leave a Reply