SLEEP is your best friend!

Your muscles NEED to recover from the stress of working out or else they will

be perpetually inflamed and shortened.  Eating healthy and nutritious foods

is important to the recovery process but SLEEP is even more important.

Check out this article to find out why:

http://breakingmuscle.com/mobility-recovery/7-essential-elements-of-rest-and-recovery

Falling asleep

Allison blogged (is that a verb?) about having occasional challenges falling asleep.  One of the residents (MD) where I work taught me a breathing technique he called the Rule of 5.  I don't have a link but here is the idea.

5 times a day - take 5 breaths in the following pattern - breath in while counting to 5 - hold the breath for 5 counts - then breath out while counting to 5.  This exercise helps with stress and might help with those nights of insomnia so you can get the sleep you need!

Sleep well.

Sleep.

It's so hard for me to get enough sleep.  It's that way for many of us and we all know it's a critical piece of a healthy body but why is it so important?

The National Sleep Foundation recommends a total sleep time of 7 to 8 hours per night for all adults...regardless of age.  That time frame allows us to cycle in and out of REM and nonREM which is an important restorative process for our bodies both physically and mentally.

So, if you don't sleep enough you feel fatigued (duh!).  Research has determined that if you feel fatigued you're less likely to exercise.  If that it's your excuse for staying away from the pilates studio grab those zzzzzzzs!

Get enough sleep.  One of the best things you can do for yourself is the cheapest.

Good night.

homer sleep

To exhausted to exercise?

The current issue of ConsumerReports on Health, has an article on 9 suggestions for removing fatigue as a roadblock to increasing your physical activity.

1. Eat carbohydrates...the good ones!
2. Drink more water.
3. Keep a diary...of your activity level and track some measurements such as waist size.
4. Find an exercise partner.
5. Listen to music.
6. Exercise in the afternoon.
7. Mind your breathing.  Read Annie's post from Monday.
8. Mix it up.  Add Pilates to your program!
9. Turn off late-night television. Enough sleep makes a difference.

Skip:
1. Working out in front of a mirror.  A Canadian study of 58 young women reported feeling worse about themselves after the workout if they exercised in front of a mirror.
2. Pre-workout coffee. It dehydrates.
3. Pricey compression garments. No evidence that they help or don't help.
4. Protein shakes and energy drinks.  Most people in the US get more than enough protein and energy drinks have some ingredients that may cause health problems.
5. Sports drinks. Limited quality research that prove the drinks enhance performance.
6. Supplements. No scientific evidence that they improve athletic performance.

Read the full article at ConsumerReports.org/CRH,  March 2013 issue.