[Updated: August 9, 2024]
Many athletes can burn anywhere between 600 and 2400 calories in a single day on an intensive training schedule. The secret to doing this with any frequency, though, is sleep.
Sleep for athletes is more important than for other people because they need more rest. So, how do they avoid many of the problems falling asleep the rest of us face to get as much time slumbering as possible?
The following are some of the secrets they use to improve their health through a good night's sleep. Check through them and ensure you do the same to get the athlete's sleep you might need as you start intensive workouts.
Table of Contents
- 1. Create a Sleeping Mood in Your Bedroom
- 2. Do Not Have Electronics Nearby
- 3. Go to The Bathroom Before Sleep
- 4. Introduce Essential Oils and Aromatherapy
- 5. Invest in A Better Mattress and Pillows
- 6. Light the Room with Soft Lights
- 7. Only Use Your Bed for Sleep
- 8. Reschedule Your Workout to Respect Sleep
- 9. Resolve Conflicts Before Sleeping
1. Create a Sleeping Mood in Your Bedroom
By making a calming environment, you can ensure you get the right amount of sleep any time you rest your head. You will start associating your bedroom with dozing off and find it much easier to do it in the future.
The following are some more specific things you can do to make your bedroom perfect for when you need to sleep.
Make your bed. The last thing you want when you approach your bed is more work before you can lie down. For this reason, you should make your bed first before you do anything else every day.
You can then start to think of disturbing the bed as something you only do when you want to sleep. You can also use the opportunity to lie down on the top of the bed if you only want a small nap, without needing to realign the covers to be comfortable.
Face the door. Some people are not aware of the fact the direction you face is important for your mental state. If you sleep facing anywhere except the door, your brain will enter an anxious mood.
This phenomenon is in part because of evolutionary concerns about intruders, no matter how safe your home is today. So, work with your body's natural concerns and stop your heart from racing from primal fears.
Grow some plants. Having plants in your bedroom can create a soothing mood by connecting you with a more natural ambiance. They act as both decorations as well as creating a relaxing environment.
Increased bedroom air quality can also have a huge effect on sleep and how one performs the next day. So, pick up a few plants, keep them watered, and allow them to create a fresh, oxygenated environment.
2. Do Not Have Electronics Nearby
Your phone and other electronics are notorious for making it harder to sleep. Not only can notifications keep you awake, but at this point, it is expected people will lie on their phones for hours before closing their eyes.
Instead, have a dedicated charging point for your phone or tablet far from your bed. You can then only pick it up when you wake up properly and walk over to it, preventing you from using it in the morning too.
If you use it as an alarm clock, then you can invest in a small, cheap, alarm clock instead of continuing to use your smartphone. Or, if you want to go the whole hog, accept that when your alarm goes off you will have to get up and go over to your phone. This may help you to wake up and resolve any early morning sleeping issues.
3. Go to The Bathroom Before Sleep
Your bladder and other bodily functions can be a real interruption to a good night. You can stop this from happening by ensuring you go to the bathroom during your nightly pre-bed routine.
This can have two benefits. First, you will not find yourself distracted from falling asleep by needing to get up a few minutes after you lie down. You are also much less likely to need to get up partway through the night to empty your bladder, allowing you to sleep through the night instead.
To help you with this, try not to drink fluids for up to three hours before going to bed. If you are a big caffeine user, cut this off around six hours before you sleep too. This can not only help prevent you from needing the toilet late at night but cutting caffeine can also help you sleep in general.
There might be other reasons you need to use the bathroom during the night. Make sure to check for them too.
4. Introduce Essential Oils and Aromatherapy
If you bring some calming smells into the bedroom, you can create a full sensory experience to help you get to sleep all the faster. A very common option for this is to use lavender oil.
By putting a little bit of dry lavender on your pillow and lavender oil nearby, you can breathe in a wonderful aroma to help you relax.
Other people swear by chamomile oil or sandalwood. Lavender is not the only option available, so make sure to find the choice that works best for you.
5. Invest in A Better Mattress and Pillows
There are many different mattresses for athletes which can help people relax their whole body after an intense day of workout. Look into some of the many options available to find something which matches how you sleep.
You might find an orthopedic mattress will match your sleeping style the best, as it helps your body sleep in a position perfect for your spine. Although depending on your workout you might want something that will give you a relaxing time because of how soft its surface is instead.
Of course, you might run hot or cold. People are very different when it comes to sleeping temperature. So, look into mattresses that either retain heat or wick it away to give you the most comfortable experience as you rest.
If you worry about the costs of investing in a new mattress or new pillows, there is usually a mattress sale in Mississauga you can investigate. Your options are almost limitless, and you can talk to an expert in a store for more information.
6. Light the Room with Soft Lights
It is not only a smartphone that can cause your eyes to become too accustomed to the light before bed. Also, having artificial white light in the bedroom can cause real trouble when you want to nod off.
This does not even need to come from inside the room, and might instead intrude from the hall outside or even lights outside of your home.
Try to block off any light from coming in from elsewhere in your home, and use thick curtains to keep your room a haven of soft and yellow light.
7. Only Use Your Bed for Sleep
It's forgivable to use your bed as a space for reading or enjoying other things. It is, after all, so comfortable. But try not to make too much of a habit of it.
If you turn your bed into an "entertainment center", you risk not feeling like you should be sleeping when you put your head down. Instead, by using your bed as a space only for trying to sleep, you can avoid associating it with other activities.
8. Reschedule Your Workout to Respect Sleep
Never give up your sleep for anything. This includes your workout. While you might think you can eat into your sleeping time, you will only regret it in the long run.
What you can do instead is change your workout to allow you time to relax before hitting the hay. If you want a workout-style wind-down, you could do something relaxing, like yoga or stretching, before you get into bed.
You might end up finishing the yoga with corpse pose on the bed itself.
9. Resolve Conflicts Before Sleeping
Anxiety and worries can cause havoc to sleep. Such concerns can slip into dreams and cause you to wake yourself up partway through the night.
Many therapists encourage people to never go to sleep with unresolved fights. These will continue to remain unresolved and interfere with restfulness. They will also cause issues with personal relationships further down the road.
If you have any worries, try to talk to someone about them before you sleep. Resolve any issues that you have, and get into a mental space where you can think about other things.
Sleep Is Best on A Good Mattress
The above advice should help you get the perfect night's sleep, so long as you have a comfortable place to rest. So, you are going to need to make sure you get the best sleep for athletes by investing in a new surface to relax on.
You can always check out our mattress sales in Mississauga, near Toronto. We have plenty of opportunities for you to find the mattress you need.
If you prefer to buy a mattress online on your own pace make sure to try our mattress shopping assistant, the Mattress Matchmaker. If you still have any questions click on our live chat or give us a call.
In the spirit of the Paris 2024 Olympic games, we are offering a special pricing on our Champions Recovery Bundles. Save up to 20% when purchasing one of our bundles so you can get the best sleep and perform like an Olympic champion.
