Staying Fit
Since a third of our lives is spent sleeping, you’d think we’d all be experts at it. Yet, for the estimated 70 million Americans suffering from chronic sleep problems, falling asleep — and staying asleep — is anything but easy. If you’ve spent restless nights tossing and turning chasing sleep that just won’t seem to come, you don’t have to live in groggy agony. Here are steps to fine-tune your sleep routine so you, too, can drift off to dreamland more easily.
BUILD A SLEEP RHYTHM
1. Don’t get too hung up on numbers
In your 20s you needed about eight to nine hours of sleep, but in your 50s you need about an hour less, notes Nalaka Gooneratne, M.D., a sleep medicine physician and geriatrician at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. Listen to your body to find the amount of sleep that’s best for you. Some people naturally prefer more sleep — perhaps as much as nine or ten hours — while there are those who prefer five or six. Start by paying attention to your alertness levels during the day as a better measure of sleep quality, suggests Sara Benjamin, M.D., a neurologist at Johns Hopkins Medicine specializing in sleep disorders. If you’re always tired or run-down, it could be a sign you’re not getting enough — or enough quality — sleep. Sleepiness or brain fog could signal a potential medical issue, such as sleep apnea, so you’ll want to get that checked out.
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2. And avoid light before bedtime
To signal your body it’s time to begin winding down, do your best to reduce bright light exposure in the evening and at night. Take small steps like using low-light table lamps instead of bright overhead lights indoors at night and wearing sunglasses if you’re going to be outside in the summertime after dinner, Benjamin suggests. “You want to prioritize less bright light in the evening, and more bright light exposure in the morning,” she says.
3. Stick to your routine
Once you’ve found your ideal rhythm, stick with it, even on weekends. When it comes to maximizing overall sleep health, “there is nothing better than routine — it’s a must,” says Abhinav Singh, M.D., medical director of the Indiana Sleep Center in Greenwood, Indiana, and medical review panel member for SleepFoundation.org. Research has shown that disruptions in sleep regularity — including wide swings in waking and sleeping time from day to day — can negatively affect your metabolism, lead to an increased risk of diabetes, and even damage overall cardiovascular health. In fact, one 2020 study found that having irregular sleep patterns doubled the risk of cardiovascular disease in older adults.
4. Get daytime light exposure
Light exposure helps drive the body’s circadian rhythm, which is a key driver of the natural sleep-wake cycle. The presence of light sends a signal to the body that it’s time to be awake — and the absence means it’s time to go to sleep. With this fact in mind, you can boost your body’s natural wake-sleep differential by getting outside for some sunshine at least a little while each day. “Light is by far the strongest cue to our circadian rhythm, but you have to consistently expose the body to light and dark cues over a few weeks in order to really set and strengthen it,” says Oregon State University assistant professor Jessee Dietch, a psychologist certified in behavioral sleep medicine who runs the school’s Sleep Health Assessment, Intervention and Dissemination lab. If you live in a region that’s often overcast, as Dietch does, consider investing in a SAD therapy light to boost your daytime light exposure. These added rays during the day could help your body more easily feel sleepy come nighttime, when the lights go out.
5. Understand your chronotype
Your chronotype is your preferred time of day for normal activities, or your underlying circadian rhythm. Divided into four categories — bear, wolf, lion, dolphin — chronotypes tell you when to sleep according to your internal clock. (Yes, we’ve advanced beyond early birds and night owls!) Most people are considered bears: They sleep and wake according to the sun. The wolf chronotype prefers to wake at noon, and lions like to rise early and are productive until about noon. Dolphins, well, they have trouble following any schedule, and are most productive between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. To find out which chronotype you are, experiment — without an alarm clock — over two to three weeks to find your natural sleep rhythms, suggests Alicia Roth, a clinical health psychologist with Cleveland Clinic who specializes in behavioral sleep medicine. Go to bed when you feel sleepy. Wake up when your body wakes up naturally. If you find yourself feeling alert and well rested as a result, make this natural sleep-wake cycle your go-to going forward, and read more about your chronotype to tap into more tips.
6. Limit alcohol
You’ve likely heard this tip before, but it bears repeating: For best sleep quality, stop drinking alcohol at least four hours before bedtime. “Alcohol absolutely disturbs sleep, so reducing alcohol intake close to bedtime is a solid tip,” Dietch says. A drink may initially help you feel relaxed and sleepy, but studies have repeatedly shown that alcohol disrupts the body’s normal sleep stages, including reducing the deep sleep and REM sleep cycles that are key for overall sleep quality.
7. Cut down on caffeine
If you’ve been having trouble kicking that late-afternoon coffee habit, maybe try again. Or at least order decaf. Science has consistently shown drinking caffeine within six hours of bedtime leads to disrupted sleep. Specifically, late-day caffeine intake can disrupt the body’s natural circadian rhythm, prolong the time it takes to fall asleep, and reduce sleep length and intensity. To get a better night’s rest, relegate your caffeinated drinks to breakfast and lunch — or skip them altogether, and be mindful of other ways you’re ingesting caffeine, like through chocolate.
8. Try skipping naps
If you’re struggling to get to sleep or stay asleep at night and you’re also taking daytime naps, they could be part of the problem. Every person has a maximum amount of hours their body likes to sleep per 24-hour time frame, and if you’re tapping into that total for daytime naps, your nighttime sleep may suffer, says Mohan Dutt, M.D., a sleep specialist at the University of Michigan Health Sleep Disorders Centers and cocreator of White Noise: A Sleep Medicine Podcast. If you must take a daily nap, limit it to 15-20 minutes, Dutt advises. If you have a habit of napping at a certain time or place each day, say in your recliner after lunch, switch up your routine and add a walk at that time to avoid the temptation of prolonged daytime snoozing.
9. Exercise your brain and body
Getting adequate daily exercise improves overall sleep quality and can help you fall asleep more quickly, research has regularly shown. One 2015 study even showed getting just 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week helped improve participants’ chronic insomnia. “I like to say exercise is the best sleeping pill,” Roth says. “I very much advocate for people who have retired to find ways to stay mentally or physically active during the day — it’s very important to your sleep,” she adds. Many sleep guidelines recommend avoiding high-intensity physical activity in the hour or two before bedtime, but recent research has begun to question even that restriction, finding no solid link between nighttime exercise and sleep disruption for most people. So, feel free to get moving, whenever it fits into your schedule.
10. Have a reason to wake up
It may be tempting to fall into erratic patterns of staying up late and dozing in bed into the mid-morning if retirement leaves you with no clear-cut schedule. To help build a healthier routine — and more consistent sleep schedule — devise fun reasons to get up and get going in the morning. “You need a purpose or motivation to get out of bed,” says Rafael Pelayo, M.D., a sleep medicine specialist with Stanford Health Care and author of How to Sleep: The New Science-Based Solutions for Sleeping Through the Night. “Plan a regular breakfast or coffee outing with friends or an exercise walk with others,” Pelayo adds. “It’s a great way to stay connected and give purpose to your morning.”
CREATE A HAVEN FOR SLEEPING
11. Turn your bedroom into a sleep retreat
“When you start thinking about your bedroom differently and you treat it as a recovery room or a sleep sanctuary, it helps shift your mindset around the products you’re going to put in there,” says JD Velilla, head of sleep experience for Serta Simmons Bedding. Sometimes scent can help, such as lavender, which has been shown to support sleep quality. And keep your room clutter-free, which will make it more comfortable and inviting, making sleep feel like a treat.
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