A quality nights rest is the biggest performance hack.
It has been associated with:
- 10-15% higher testosterone (Leprout et al., 2005)
- Faster sprint times (Mah et al., 2011)
- Half the injury risk (Milewski et al., 2011)
- 3 x less likely to get sick (Cohen et al., 2009)
- Faster skill development (Pallesen 2017)
Most athletes know this.
But, most are still sleeping like crap.
The 10-3-2-1 method is an easy to remember hack to fix that:
10 Hours Before Bed:
Stop consuming caffeine.
“Moderate caffeine ingestion 6 hours before bed reduced total sleep time by 41 minutes. And moderate caffeine ingestion just 3 hours before bed reduced total sleep time by 63 minutes.” (Drake et al., 2013)
3 Hours Before Bed:
No big meals.
Overeating can interfere with normal sleep. After a big meal, the body has to devote energy to the digestive process, which typically takes several hours. But digestion usually slows during sleep, putting your body’s normal sleep process at odds with the stomach’s needs for digestion.
2 Hours Before Bed:
No more work.
Research has found that 52 percent of consistent overtime workers felt they were not as well-rested after working late into the day (read here).
1 Hour Before Bed:
Reduce light exposure (main lights, tv, phone, laptop).
Exposure to light suppresses the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that influences circadian rhythms. Even dim light can interfere with a person’s circadian rhythm and melatonin secretion
We hope this simple hack helps.
If you want more ideas, read this article – 12 Tips for Your Best Nights Sleep Ever
