Sleep Techniques to help with better sleep hygiene

[mhor4332]

Hi everyone, I recently got a whoop band and I was wondering if anyone had any special or unique ways that they got better sleep? I defiantly have a ton of room to improve so I was hoping to get some ideas here. I think that this could turn into a great discussion on sleep and how we can all improve it to help better our training.

I’ll start off first, I turn my alarm clock away from me at night so that the LED light from the clock doesn’t shine towards me and adversely affect my sleep. I also try not to eat anything late at night starting at about 7 or 8.

[ColoradoJames]

Start @51:18

FTP Improvement, Sleep Deep Dive, Training Outside & More – Ask a Cycling Coach 207

[mcneese.chad]

Some existing discussion:

• What’s your sleep routine? What tech are you using?

[Keoni]

I am a very poor sleeper. Can’t sleep much and tend to wake up a lot. Glad when I get five hours or so. The following few rules help me to make the best out of it.

(1) Only lie in your bed when you want to sleep. Also get out of bed once you are awake.
(2) No electronic devices in the bedroom.
(3) Keep the bedroom cold and dark.
(4) Have your own blanket (as in don’t share one with the SO)
(5) Don’t go to bed super hungry or super full. Ditto for liquids.

Guess that’s all.

[ibaldwin]

For me, turn off the TV earlier, phone even earlier and I’ve been reading almost every night before bed. I’m dreaming more vividly than ever, for what ever that’s worth. No caffeine after noon. Trying to be better about late night snacks but lots of room for improvement there.

[BT-7274]

Based on some sleep techniques developed by the US military, I learned to pay attention to relaxing my jaw and face. Seems to have helped.

[KickrLin]

What @Keoni said and no caffeine after noon.

I would add:

1. Going to bed at the same time every night as well as getting up at the same time every day. after a couple weeks, you won’t need an alarm clock.
2. Don’t look at the clock or your watch if you wake up in the middle of the night. roll over and go back to sleep.
3. Don’t look at sleep metrics like your Garmin, Whoop, or whatever. There is a word or term for it, but it eludes me at the moment. The word means the more you obsess about your sleep, the less likely you are to sleep well to the point of becoming an insomniac. Vicious little circle!

[team_bunty]

THC edibles?

[chiefhiawatha]

@KickrLin

Don’t look at sleep metrics like your Garmin, Whoop, or whatever. There is a word or term for it, but it eludes me at the moment

While I might be biased as a whoop user, this is plain silly.

[patrickd84]

From my personal experience using an Oura ring as data over several months- the number one thing I can do for better sleep is to wear earplugs.
Didn’t realize it but all the little noises were the main cause of my problems: falling asleep and staying asleep.

I didn’t believe in them until I saw and felt the difference. Takes getting used to though. I trim mine down slightly to avoid any ear discomfort.

I’ve always tried to have a consistent sleep schedules, and I’m sure that would probably have to be in place first.

[ericallenboyd]

Read the book “why we sleep”

[TwoWheels]

Keep the same wake and bedtime every day of the week. No sleeping in, no staying up late. With all the events and social commitments canceled due to Covid this has been really easy.

Also, alcohol isn’t great for sleep. You do loose consciousness, but you dont sleep as deeply.

[DaveWh]

Similar to training - volume and consistency.

Get more sleep, and keep a consistent schedule.

I’ve been tracking my sleep for a few years now with sleep cycle. The single biggest change in my behavior is that I now get more sleep. Average 8:15 of sleep per night over 835 nights.

On nights when I get 9 hrs or more, I feel great the next day.

[framness]

Lots of good advice here. Late up, eating, and drinking (anything) janks up my sleep. Don’t be a software developer, I have to take pulls on overnight batch support and when I’m on primary I’m assured a call.

I wear a sleep mask too, to help eliminate stray light even more. If you have sleep apnea, get it treated and stay with the treatment. Getting on a CPAP litterally litterally made an overnight difference with my sleep.

[chiefhiawatha]

@DaveWh

I’ve been tracking my sleep for a few years now with sleep cycle. The single biggest change in my behavior is that I now get more sleep. Average 8:15 of sleep per night over 835 nights.

THis among many others is an example of data helping sleep. To dispense with it because “the more you obsess about your sleep, the less likely you are to sleep well to the point of becoming an insomniac” is ridiculous. If having data leads you to cleaning up sleep practices, it’s worth it. Most people who track sleep somehow will learn something. Drinking totally trashes my sleep, and anyone else I know who has a device, for example.