While many think heart health is just about nutrition and some exercise, it goes far beyond that. There’s a heart health and sleep connection.
Quality sleep and managing stress are very important for heart health, mental health, and long term health. In other words, you have some control in preventing diseases later in life.
Unfortunately, there are quite a few people that don’t think twice about getting enough sleep. They assume it’s wasted time and that a few cups of coffee will help them make it through the day.
Lack of sleep results in:
- Fatigue
- Poor recovery
- Increased risk of injury and illness
- Cognitive decline
- Increased risk of developing disease in the long term
Quality sleep means you’re getting enough deep sleep and REM sleep. When you don’t get enough deep sleep, that’s when you wake up feeling tired and groggy in the morning.
What happens during sleep:
- Repair and regeneration of tissue
- Building bone and muscle
- Information in the brain is processed
- Memories are consolidated
- Strengthening the immune system
So how can you get quality sleep for better heart health and a better, more productive day?
Follow the 10-3-2-1 rule:
- 10 hours before bed: stop having caffeine
- 3 hours before bed: stop eating and snacking
- 2 hours before bed: stop any stressful work
- 1 hour before bed: stop screen time and blue light exposure
Besides getting good, quality sleep, what else can you do for better heart health?
- Don’t “cram” for a race. Plan your training out to give your self time to build up mileage rather than pushing through some last minute long runs a few weeks before a big race.
- Include rest and recovery in your training. Recovery days are needed to absorb all the hard work you’ve been putting in.
- Include strength training in your plan. Strong muscles support you in all the things you like to do.
- Listen to your body and don’t ignore symptoms. If something doesn’t feel right, get it checked out.
- Reduce stress and negative emotions.
- Enjoy your food, but remember to eat to support your training. Workouts aren’t an excuse to be able to eat dessert all day, every day.
- Eat to stabilize your blood sugar so that you can prevent disease and promote longterm health.
- Remember that it’s not about pushing to 100% all the time, your training needs to have the right intensities at the right times. This includes easy workouts, too.
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