91 - Sleep Expert Dr. Amy Bender

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• 1:30 meet Dr Amy Bender
• 3:00 an overview of the importance of sleep
  • One of the pillars of health
  • Impacts nutrition
  • Ability to execute training
  • Chronic poor sleep associated with a number of negative health outcomes
  • Impacts injury risk
  • Immune health
• 7:30 sleep quantity guidelines
  • 7 - 9 hours, depending on training load
  • More training requires more sleep
• 9:15 can you get too much sleep?
  • There’s a correlation with sleep outside of the 6.5 - 9 hours and increased prevalence of depression. The effect appears bi-directional.
• 15:30 consistency in sleep is important
• 16:30 the value and ‘how tos’ of naps
  • Only 20% of Canadian National athletes were napping, and they are missing out
  • 20’ naps have value
  • Schedule naps into your training
  • Naps contribute to weekly sleep duration
  • Avoid naps too close to bedtime: 1200 - 1600 ideal
  • Short naps should be short enough to avoid deep sleep: <30’
  • Long naps should be long enough to allow a full sleep cycle: >90’
• 23:00 the phases of sleep
  • Non-rem: divided into phases 1 through 3, with stage 3 being the deepest stage where a lot of the physical recovery takes place. The majority of phase 3 occurs in the first half of the night. 
  • Rem sleep
  • One full cycle is ~90’
  • Sleep phases are impacted by our actions during the day, but difficult to control
• 28:30 how does waking up at night affect sleep quality and sleep stages?
• 30:30 the effects of stress on sleep
• 31:30 techniques for falling asleep after waking in the middle of the night
  • Good, consistent, pre-sleep routine
    • Put away electronics
    • Take a warm bath / shower
    • Stretch 
    • Read a paper book
    • Write a to-do list
  • Breathing technique: 4-7-8 or snake breathing
  • Cognitive shuffle
  • Avoid staying in bed for longer than 20’ trying to fall asleep. Instead, do a relaxing - non-screen based activity in a different environment. And only return back to bed when you feel sleepy.
• 36:30 sleep quality. With high quality sleep classified by:
  • Following asleep in less than 30’, waking up only once per night, being awake less than 20’ during that wake-up, and spending more than 85% of total time in bed sleeping.
• 38:15 seek professional sleep help if above conditions are chronically not met
• 38:45 improving sleep quality
  • Exercise
  • Reduce caffeine intake
  • Avoid alcohol
• 42:45 quality or quantity?
• 43:15 an audio device to improve sleep quality
• 44:15 sleep disruption from sleep partners 🤬
• 45:45 the seriousness of snoring

Please send any questions you have about sleep to [email protected]. Check out Dr. Benders excellent questionnaire and guidance on sleep and follow her on Instagram and Twitter.