Get Fit Guy shares his own bedtime routine for optimal sleep
Get Fit Guy shares his own bedtime routine for optimal sleep
Get-Fit Guy is hosted by Kevin Don. A transcript is available at Simplecast.
Get-Fit Guy is hosted by Kevin Don. A transcript is available at Simplecast.
Have a fitness question? Email Kevin at getfitguy@quickanddirtytips.com or leave us a voicemail at (510) 353-3014.
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Hello, everyone. Kevin Don, the Get Fit Guy, here. I don’t know about you, but sometimes it can be just SO HARD to fall asleep at night. My dog, Maverick who gives no cares at all for how sleep deprived I might be, then wakes me up at early o’clock to go outside. Oh, and I would like to take this opportunity to tell y’all some more Kevin ‘lore’. Every time I tell someone my dog is called Maverick, they say: “Top Gun fan huh?” That is FALSE. Whilst I do love the nostalgia and feel good vibes from any movie from the 80’s with its thumping power rock ballads, he is NOT nameds after the main character in TOP GUN. He is named after the 4th best coffee shop I have been to, called Maverick coffee in Scottsdale, AZ. The owner is an ex British Olympian in the pole vault. The shop pays great attention to detail and even make their own milk alternatives IN HOUSE. Legit.
Ok, so back to sleep. As you know, I used to live in Hong Kong also and it is RELENTLESS over there. People everywhere, noise, fast pace of life. It can be very hard to unwind. Back then, I started having sleep problems and because I was working full time coaching martial arts, which involved me participating often, I was just wiped out and couldn’t recover. I tried vacations with massage and meditation and all sorts of ‘escapes’ but because I was always returning to the same situation, I couldn’t get away from bad sleep catching me up again soon after returning.
So, I started to do research and self experimentation. This is the bit where I tell you that this podcast episode is actually totally invalid because it’s based on my subjective, anecdotal experience. Yup, sample size ONE. But hey, it also says in the title that it’s MY sleep routine, so what did you expect apart from a massive amount of bias? If you have learned anything from my podcast ‘lessons’ on choosing data sources, you’ll switch this off NOW. But I know you love my accent so y’all are here for it.
So, like most people of sound mind would do, the first thing I did was go to the doctor. When I told the doctor I couldn’t sleep, he gave me a drug called Zopiclone. Horrible stuff. Being someone into fitness and feeling good, I binned those REAL FAST. So next is research into what I could do that would be more ‘holistic’ HAHAHAHA there is a real. Nonsense buzzword for you. Another red flag! So, let me tell you my current bedtime routine and why.
Blue Light Reduction
It has been well documented in many many studies that there is a significant effect on the sleep-wake cycle according to the types of light we are exposed to. There are lots of different colours of light we are exposed to across the visual spectrum. Some of these colours of light have an effect on our hormones. Blue light, which we find is the predominant light we receive from artificial indoor lighting and devices, such as cellphones, laptops and televisions is the same colour of light we are bathed in when in daylight. As such, blue light inhibits the production of melatonin, a sleep hormone. When receptors in your eyes are hit by blue light, they are sending signals to your brain that it is daytime and not sleepy time. As such, a reduction in blue light is really a great way to ensure more natural rhythms in terms of melatonin production. There are lots of sellers of ‘blue light blocking glasses’. However, in studies, these are unproven in efficacy. So, rather than wearing a pair of unproven glasses and continuing with devices at night, I made the choice to stop using devices at least 2 hours before bedtime. Which has been great because I have suddenly found time to read a ton of interesting books now that I am no longer doom scrolling. I also bought an analog alarm clock for my bedside because I found using my cellphone as an alarm, it was too tempting to look at my phone at night or even first thing in the morning.
Clean bedsheets
Now, whilst I don’t have the time and the world doesn’t have enough water for me to wash my bedsheets daily, I have to say I am a huge fan of freshly laundered bedsheets. There is something about the clean smell and feel of freshly laundered linen. Therefore I do change my sheets more often than the average to make sure I feel comfy and cosy! No science, just how I feel. Although, I will note that research from the National Sleep Foundation has found that the smell of clean sheets is relaxing to most people and this makes one feel sleepy.
Supplements
I do also take a ‘sleep stack’ of natural supplements that I find helps me to fall asleep. I have tried many things in many combinations and this is what currently works for me.
The first thing and the one I find most impactful is called GABA. This is Gamma Amino Butyric Acid and it is a neurotransmitter. It slows your brain down by reducing signals in your central nervous system. I was first given this by a girl I was dating, who swore by it. I took some and was very sleepy within 30-45 minutes and had a great sleep. Bizarrely, when I researched GABA, the science said that this sleepiness was impossible because oral GABA is good large in terms of particle size and cannot cross the blood-brain barrier. So now I had a conundrum: I took it and found it worked, but the science says it’s impossible. So was this placebo? If yes, then now that I have data it doesn’t work, will it stop working? Well, it didn’t stop working and recent studies have actually shown that in every dose, SOME of the GABA does cross the blood-brain barrier. So you would need to take more than the recommended dose, which, as it turns out, I was. So, I still, 5 years later, take GABA before bed.
Next up is an amino acid called L-tryptophan. You may have heard that there is a chemical in turkey that makes you feel sleepy. This is true, the chemical is L-tryptophan. This chemical is the pre-cursor to another called 5-HTP (hydroxytryptophan), which is the pre-cursor to serotonin. L-tryptophan has been shown in studies to cause sleepiness and the increase it causes in serotonin cause a well being feeling. However, it is important to note that carbohydrate helps L-tryptophan absorption, so I do take some carbs at bedtime with my supplements. Could be a slice of toast, could be a handful of granola or a scoop of ice cream.
Finally, I take some L-theanine. This is an amino acid found in green tea, which has been shown in studies to relieve stress disorders and improve sleep function.
As with anything, it is important to make sure you do some due diligence on any supplements in case they interact with any medication you may be taking.
Environment
Finally, I make sure that I have a good sleep environment. Beside clean bedsheets, I have black out curtains to ensure that I don’t have any light coming in from street lighting outside, they are also heavy enough they dampen any traffic sounds that may come in. I also ensure that the temperature is low, I covered in another episode the optimal sleep temperature and that is 65 fahrenheit. So, I have my room at 65 and I also have white noise, which in my case is a fan. White noise creates a barrier against any other incoming noise that could disturb your sleep.
And that’s it, that’s my sleep routine. The only thing I have left that disturbs my sleep but I wouldn’t change for all the tea in China is Maverick, who likes to pace about or jump on my head at 6am. But that's a non-negotiable.
Any questions, email me at getfitguy@quickanddirtytips.com
Get-Fit Guy is a Quick and Dirty Tips podcast. Thanks to the team at Quick and Dirty Tips Morgan Christianson, Holly Hutchings, the director of podcasts Brennan Goetschius and Davina Tomlin. I’m your host, Kevin Don. If you have a question for me, leave me a voicemail at 510-353-3104 or send me an email at getfitguy@quickanddirtytips.com
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