My notes on

Sleep

and why you should do more of it

“Scientists have discovered a revolutionary new treatment that makes you live longer. It enhances your memory, makes you more attractive. It keeps you slim and lowers food cravings. It protects you from cancer and dementia. It wards off colds and flu. It lowers your risk of heart attacks and stroke, not to mention diabetes. You’ll even feel happier, less depressed, and less anxious. Are you interested?”

Why We Sleep

I knew that sleep was important before reading Matthew Walker’s Why We Sleep, but since then, I will do almost anything to ensure that I get nine hours in bed each night.

Sleep is an essential part of your athletic life because it is an essential part of life, period.

In rowing, there is a badge of honor associated with waking up early and being on the water before the sun comes up. It shows “toughness” or “grit”. Yeah, waking up that early is hard for a reason: your body is telling you that it needs more sleep to function properly, and your mind is fighting against that natural feedback!

I have heard from many other elite level athletes about the progress they made after switching schedules to allow even one hour of extra sleep.

Athletes often have to train early because of school or work schedules, and in rowing, which demands a significant amount of time commitment for each session, those start times get pushed earlier and earlier.

Sleep and Junior Rowing

I cringe whenever I see a high school program finishing their practice when I arrive at the boathouse at 7:30am. Those kids must have been rudely awoken by an alarm at 5:00am, disrupting the crucial sleep that leads to brain and body restoration and growth. I guarantee you that none of them woke up naturally, with no alarm, feeling refreshed and not wishing they could pull the covers back over their head.

Junior athletes, especially, are vulnerable to damage done by extremely early practices. On top of needing their brains to adapt and recover after sitting in classes every day and allowing their body to secrete growth hormones, sleep enhances your mental and emotional resilience -- read: ability to deal with depressive or anxious thoughts. We do not need another factor negatively impacting juniors’ mental health.

If you are not spending at least eight hours in bed per night (and probably more for junior athletes), then you are actively harming your brain and body.

Good enough?

If you “feel fine” sleeping 6-7 hours per night, you might be telling the truth. If your brain is used to functioning at 80% of normal power, then that will feel “fine” to you. However, I challenge you to spend at least one full week getting 9 (nine) hours in bed with the lights off and phone down, note how your brain and body feel throughout the day, then see if you voluntarily go back to the 6 hour routine.

The goal of this site is to help you be the BEST athlete you can be. Sure, you can function without getting a full night’s sleep, but you certainly will not thrive.