Too Little Sleep, Too Little Energy
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LongTime posted 1 year ago.
alowrun, obviously you're burning the proverbial candle at both ends. You should look at how you can move more efficiently through the day to fit in workouts and still get 8 hours of sleep. If you keep training hard with inadequate rest, you'll grind yourself into the ground. Another option is to go easier during the week, and do longer workouts on the weekends when you can sleep more. Do the shorter, more intense workouts Mon-Fri, and the long stuff Sat-Sun. Keep listening to your body. Sometimes the best thing you can do is sleep in. Often the most neglected part of any training program is rest (and yes, I know many of us hate to do that!).
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Anton posted 1 year ago.
Al..longtime is spot on... you have to be flexable on your schedule and really look at how your time is spent in order to find more time to sleep. Do you watch TV? Spend alot of time at Trifuel?
The key to triathlon success isthe long workout...but that doesn't mean all your workouts need to be long...frequency is super important,too. Cut your workday workouts shorter an hour or less and lengthen up a tad on the weekends... I'm lucky as you probably are, to be able to sleep in on the weekends and still have plenty of time to train.
I'm in bed at 8:30...read till nine then lights out...up at 5 during the week. Weekends I get more...
The time honored and often lost skill of "The Afternoon Nap" helps too.
And Al...sleeping in or resting doesn't make you pathetic or dishonest...it shows you're smart and healthy.
"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" - Vincent Van Gogh
My Blog: http://agingsuperhero.blogspot.com
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LongTime posted 1 year ago.
Good point Anton about the afternoon nap, if you can fit it in. I eat lunch and then nod off for 20 or so minutes. Sometimes I catch up on sleep during meetings, lol. Can't always find the time for a nap but it really helps.
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Riverbrady posted 1 year ago.
Second the afternoon nap when it's available, though I still have trouble trying to get one in myself.
I'm forgetting where I read it, but I remember recently reading something about the first hour or two of sleep being the most crucial - part of the reasoning why people certain professions could get away with multiple short naps throughout the day and function at near full capacity on about 5 hours of sleep.
But an echo to the above - the biggest thing is simply listening to your body and plain getting more sleep...and getting consistent sleep in the same night timeframe.
"Care more than others think is wise, risk more than others think is safe, dream more than others think is practical, expect more than others think is possible."
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fitnessman03 posted 1 year ago.
People that say sleep is overrated, are ridiculous. Sleep is mandatory and your body needs enough to produce. Especially as an athlete, your body needs at least 8 hours a day so you can be at the top of your game. When you do not sleep enough, you feel lathargic, you definitely do not perform, and eventually your body will breakdown and you will get sick, then you can't train.
Like the other responses said, cut down on some workouts and make them more efficient. You could even put in a 45 minute circuit in the gym to replace a run. Being in the gym 1 time a week is a great relief from swimming, biking, or running and you can definitely accomplish a good workout, without spending 2 1/2 hours in a workout.
If you start noticing that your sleep patterns are off, take a day or two off of training and catch up on your sleep. You will not lose any fitness by resting and letting the body regenerate. If your body is tired and broken down, you will never be able to perform and train to the fullest.
Taking a nap can be the best thing for you during a day. A 20 minute "power nap" can jumpstart you for the rest of your day. Even if it is closing your eyes at the end of your lunch period; anything with help.
Remember, along with sleep, your nutritonal habits will help your body regulate properly. Taking out a crucial component of your body's needs will just destroy this whole process of being healthy. Ultimately, this is what we want as triathletes, is to be healthy, so make sure to do it right!
Justin Levine
www.justintrain.com
"Be excited to live and enjoy every day to the fullest!"
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craigery posted 1 year ago.
Your training isnt doing you as much good as it would if you were getting more rest. Even schedule a rest day. Believe me, I know its hard. I feel like I'm slacking on days that I dont do any training. The time you put into your training will do you more good if you allow your body the time to adapt.
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deedlit posted 1 year ago.
Personally, I can't function when I get less than 8 hours of sleep. I'm also lucky to be able to get 30 minute naps if I need them. It really makes a huge difference!
That article posted in May says it all:
http://www.trifuel.com/training/health-nutrition/sleep-your-way-to-better-performance
[CENTER]------------------------------------------------------------------
Caroline
http://aquabike.blogspot.com/
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bokchoy posted 1 year ago.
Yeah, the article posted above is a great one! Of course I'm always looking for a good excuse to sleep more :)
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alowrun posted 1 year ago.
Hey everyone.
Thanks so much for all the help on this one.
My commute total is about 60 minutes. A 15 minute drive to the train, a 30 minute train ride, and a 15 minute walk from the train to work.
I could nap on the train I think, its always quiet and cool.
But I don't usually get back to training until 6:30, so then I eat dinner around 8:00 on a normal day, and then go to sleep between 9 and 9:30.
I think the idea of cutting the weekday workouts a a bit shorter would help alot, and adding a bit to the weekends, when I can really rest and rejuvenate.
Thanks again!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
-A-Low
I Believe In Cross Country
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nayo posted 1 year ago.
Here are some tips a doctor gave to me abotu sleepign when I suffered from insomnia pretty badly last year (I wasnt training then, so some of it may not be applicable)
-Don't sleep more than 8 hours straight (afetr that you're dehydrated/etc...)
-ALWAYS wake up at the same time. Doesnt matter at what timedid you go to bed the night before.
-90% of the resting ocurrs in the first 5 hours of sleep.
-If you're gonna nap, nap between 10am-and 1pm
-Always try to get some ligth exposure, specially from 8am-10am
-Don't eat too much protein before you sleep, specially if it's hard to digest protein (I have experimented with taking whey protein shakes one hour before sleep and I seem to do just fine)
-Do not have any light sources on while you're going to bed. That means, take the TV out of the room or hide the remote in the kitchen after 6pm. Your room should be for sleeping and sex (my doctor said it to me when I was 18, so I suppose it is that important)
Most of this are not sports-specific prectices, but I guess it can help a little bit
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alowrun posted 1 year ago.
Nice. These sound like good ideas. But the getting up at the same time,that will be difficult to follow.
I like to sleep in for an extra hour or so on the weekends.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
-A-Low
I Believe In Cross Country
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azstinger11 posted 1 year ago.
LongTime;70002 wrote:
Sex can do wonders for helping one sleep.
and can be a great cardio workout!
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A problem has arisen.
I have found that my sleep is not adequate for the training I am putting in. I am training, on average 90-150 minutes per day. I am going to bed between 10 and 10:30AM, and on 3 days a week, getting up at 5:30AM, then training later after work.The training, compounded by a long work day (nearly always over 8 hours) leaves me with little downtime, and rest. In college, I would schedule my training around the sporadic class demands that is academia, hoping to catch the most number of hours of sleep I could. I concluded that 10 hours is ideal, but here in the city its not possible. So I’m surviving on seven hours. It is not enough.
This morning was a pole away from Tuesday. Whereby, on Tuesday I just utterly failed to produce. Don’t think, just do. I did, yesterday. This morning, my mind, spirit, and body were unanimously declaring, “Rest me”. So I slept in for another hour, and quite honestly don't feel dishonest or pathetic.
How should I structure my sleep more completely? I know thats what is killing me.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
-A-Low
I Believe In Cross Country