WEBVTT - The Ultimate Race 0:00:06.160 --> 0:00:07.040 There's no sleeping. 0:00:07.160 --> 0:00:09.280 I think that's usually the first question I get is 0:00:09.320 --> 0:00:12.360 do you get to sleep during ultra durance running events? 0:00:12.480 --> 0:00:15.080 And I'm like, no, not. If you're trying to finish 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:19.680 within the time limit, you run through the night. 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:24.919 Eo Wang is a competitive runner currently training to compete 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:29.200 this fall in the JFK fifty mile ultra Marathon. The 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:33.120 race route spans over one thousand feet in elevation along 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:36.800 a mountainous and rocky section of the Appalachian Trail. It 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:41.839 horseshoes along the Cno Canal Towpath before ending in historic 0:00:41.920 --> 0:00:45.879 Williamsport on the border of Maryland and West Virginia. You 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:46.839 know the best way. 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:48.920 To warm up start running. 0:00:49.920 --> 0:00:52.919 While the varied terrain of this course makes for an 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:57.000 intense and arduous race, fifty miles is not the longest 0:00:57.000 --> 0:00:59.840 distance for an ultra marathon, nor is it the longest 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:03.680 raised Eo has ever competed in. But running long distances 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:06.959 is just part of the training program. These ultra endurance 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:10.000 athletes have to think about the whole picture. When you're 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:12.280 pushing your body to the max, you've got to think 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:17.360 about physical endurance, mental strength, nutrition, and most importantly sleep 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:20.039 in order for EO and runners like her to keep 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:23.600 going mile after mile, Sleep must be a part of 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:24.320 a winning plan. 0:01:25.200 --> 0:01:28.679 It can be almost four miles to go all the 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:30.640 way to the top of the hill to our little 0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:33.039 single attack book and come back. 0:01:34.040 --> 0:01:38.360 I'm Anahad O'Connor and this is Chasing Sleep and iHeartRadio 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:44.760 production in partnership with Mattress Firm. As a best selling 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:47.800 author and a health columnist with the background in psychology, 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:50.760 I've spent a lot of my time studying and writing 0:01:50.760 --> 0:01:54.520 about sleep. Sleep is so essential to our overall health, 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:57.760 but often it's something we overlook, and it's the first 0:01:57.800 --> 0:02:01.160 thing we tend to neglect. In each episod, we'll meet 0:02:01.160 --> 0:02:05.160 people living and working in extraordinary circumstances. I want to 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:07.960 learn how they rest and recharge their bodies and minds 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:11.120 to perform at their best, whether it's an ultra marathon 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:13.800 or training for their next one hundred miles, or an 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:18.400 astronaut floating in space. Together, we'll explore the unique challenges 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:22.000 they encounter and uncover the universal secrets to a RESTful 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:27.280 night of sleep, no matter the environment or occupational hazards. Today, 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:29.880 we'll look at the roles sleep plays and training for intents, 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:35.079 endurance competitions, and the symbiotic relationship between sleep and physical fitness. 0:02:35.600 --> 0:02:39.120 Plus we'll discover which is more important an early morning 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:41.359 workout or an extra hour of sleep. 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:54.480 My name is Eo Wang. I'm a professional trail and ultrarunner, 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:56.079 and I'm also a. 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:59.120 Teacher throughout the summer. 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:02.360 Eos darts the day with a cup of coffee and 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:04.760 then heads out to the trails for a run. And 0:03:04.800 --> 0:03:07.519 she's not the only one. According to a twenty twenty 0:03:07.560 --> 0:03:11.320 report from the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, about fifty 0:03:11.440 --> 0:03:14.200 million Americans take part in running or jogging. 0:03:16.720 --> 0:03:20.120 After competing in both the twenty twelve and twenty twenty. 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:23.440 Olympic Marathon trials, Eo now has her sights on becoming 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:26.400 one of the top ten women in a globally recognized 0:03:26.480 --> 0:03:29.640 ultra marathon. She has already won the Lake Sonoma fifty 0:03:29.720 --> 0:03:33.840 mile race in twenty sixteen and twenty seventeen. But people 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:37.280 aren't born ultra marathoners, and she wasn't even always a runner. 0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:39.720 It took her some time to find her rhythm in 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:40.160 the sport. 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:45.560 I started running when I went to college at MIT, 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:50.840 and I spectated my first Boston Marathon as a freshman, 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:56.120 I got so inspired by what I was seeing happening 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:58.800 in front of me. I was not a runner at 0:03:58.840 --> 0:04:01.720 the time. I did not think of myself as being 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:05.960 athletic in any way, so it was kind of a 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:11.920 personal quest and challenge to work on doing sports. And 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:14.880 I kind of just got hooked on the process of 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:20.280 trying to run a bit longer each day. And this 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:23.920 idea that you know, working towards a running goal means 0:04:24.040 --> 0:04:28.600 you have to be consistent and train and develop fitness 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:32.640 over time. So I remember training for my first five k, 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:35.440 and then once I got the five k under my belt, 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:39.520 moving to longer and longer distances, eventually a half marathon 0:04:39.800 --> 0:04:43.679 and then a full marathon. And I just kept going 0:04:43.760 --> 0:04:47.560 back for a few years doing Boston, setting goals for 0:04:47.600 --> 0:04:49.840 myself of trying to run a little. 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:50.800 Bit faster each year. 0:04:51.240 --> 0:04:55.200 I ran fast enough to qualify for the trials in 0:04:55.400 --> 0:04:59.160 twenty twelve in the marathon. I've run a lot of 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:02.600 fifty k, fifty milers, and one hundred milers since then. 0:05:03.920 --> 0:05:09.279 Wait, did you just say one hundred miles. 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:13.120 Yeah, there's a one hundred mile race called the Western 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:16.480 States hundred miler, which claims to be the oldest hundred 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:20.560 miler around. Some people might dispute that, but I think 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:24.800 officially on record, it is the oldest organized hundred miler. 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:30.640 It's a race that starts in Squaw and ends in Auburn, California, 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:34.480 and it just attracts a very competitive field each year 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:36.560 and has worked its way to being one of the 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:39.279 marquee ultra endurance running events. 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:43.440 Her average finished time for one hundred mile race is 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:47.240 around twenty two hours, and she's running straight through that 0:05:47.640 --> 0:05:52.200 entire time, no sleeping, just running for twenty two hours. 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:55.560 Think about your day yesterday and now imagine if you 0:05:55.600 --> 0:05:58.360 were on your feet running almost every single minute of it. 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:02.040 If you're wondering how it's even humanly possible to do this, 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:04.480 trust me, I'm right there with you. 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:08.200 So how exactly do you manage to keep going and 0:06:08.200 --> 0:06:09.159 stay awake through it all? 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:15.039 Yeah? So the human body is a remarkable thing. You know. 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:17.120 Think about the times when you've had to stay up 0:06:17.160 --> 0:06:20.800 really late, if it's really important or really exciting, or like, 0:06:21.160 --> 0:06:23.599 you know, you're stuck at a layover on an airport, 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:26.479 and you amaze yourself by how many hours you can 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:29.000 stay up without going to sleep. It's kind of the 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:32.480 same thing because you're running on like so much adrenaline 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:35.120 and like crazy stress hormones and like this fight or 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:39.000 flight response, and that carries you through for a remarkably 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:44.520 long time, for very long events. Right afterwards, there is 0:06:44.560 --> 0:06:47.640 a point at which you tend to crash. I would 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:51.480 say it takes me of solid forty eight hours to 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:57.240 come down and like crash. And it's really day two 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:00.800 through seven after the race is when I can't move. 0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:05.240 I'm just gonna lay in bed all day or I 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:06.120 want to Anyway. 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:10.680 As someone who loves to dig into the science and 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:14.520 research of how our bodies work, EO's training plan and 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:18.160 her approach to sleep got me thinking what role does 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:21.280 sleep actually play in our physical performance and how can 0:07:21.320 --> 0:07:23.840 we use sleep as a training tool for strength and 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:28.440 endurance competitions. I decided to call up neurophysiologist and brain 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:32.480 coach to elite athletes, Louisa Nicola. Not only is Louisa 0:07:32.520 --> 0:07:35.640 an expert on sleep as it relates to athletic performance, 0:07:35.960 --> 0:07:38.760 but she was also once a triathlete who competed at 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:40.560 some of the highest levels. 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:46.800 Hi, I'm Louisa Nicola. I'm a neurophysiologist and brain coach 0:07:46.840 --> 0:07:51.040 to elite performers. I raised for Australia, I qualified for 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:54.800 Beijing and London, and I also went to med school 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:57.760 and I became obsessed with human brain and I realized 0:07:57.800 --> 0:08:02.440 that during my training spoke to me about sleep. In fact, 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:06.280 he was really against sleep. He basically said, you should 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:08.560 be training and you sleep when you're dead. And I 0:08:08.560 --> 0:08:10.360 think a lot of people were thinking that. And this 0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:13.280 was going back, you know, before twenty twelve, which is 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:16.880 when I retired from triathlon, and I always felt as 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:20.080 though there had to be more to human performance. There 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:23.720 had to be more to performance on the field and 0:08:23.920 --> 0:08:29.000 athletic performance than just training, training the body and training 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:31.600 the tactics and technical side. There had to be more, 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:35.520 and that's when I became obsessed with understanding human physiology. 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:41.160 She founded her company Neuroathletics in twenty sixteen and dedicated 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:44.760 herself to combining the science of neurology with athletic performance. 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:48.600 Luisa knows all about the importance of sleep for elite 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:52.320 athletes like EO, and explains that sleep will shift and 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:55.880 change depending on where someone is in her training. According 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:58.800 to her, there will be training periods whereas much as 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:02.080 twelve hours of sleep is completely normal. 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:08.520 So sleep should change throughout your training schedule. So when 0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:11.520 we look at periodization, Okay, you've got a block of 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:14.040 where you're just doing a lot of build work, which 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:16.640 is you're just building on endurance and you're doing a 0:09:16.760 --> 0:09:21.160 lot and a lot of long distance and hard hard work. 0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:25.000 This means that the body, both the body and the brain, 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:30.040 needs a lot more time to recuperate and regenerate, so sleeping. 0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:32.920 If I knew this back then, we'd need to adjust 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:35.920 our sleep schedules to be sleeping if we can a 0:09:35.960 --> 0:09:40.360 bit longer, okay, Whereas if we are doing short bouts 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:43.280 of intense work, our sleep may not have to be 0:09:43.920 --> 0:09:47.880 as long. If you think of Roger Federer or Lebron James, 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:51.560 they are both renowned for sleeping twelve hours a night, 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:55.960 But when you couple this with the amount of training 0:09:56.160 --> 0:09:59.040 that they do, it makes sense that they're sleeping because 0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:02.160 they're working out anywhere from four to five hours a day, 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:05.160 so it makes sense. However, they don't sleep twelve hours 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:09.080 a night during their competition phases because they're not training, 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:13.040 they're just competing. So Basically, the general rule is the 0:10:13.120 --> 0:10:17.160 more activity exerted during the day, the longer and better 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:18.560 quality the sleep needs to be. 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:24.439 So if a professional basketball player is sleeping twelve hours 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:26.960 a night, training for four to five hours a day, 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:30.000 and that's their full time job, what does training and 0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:33.000 recovery look like for EO who's competing to run fifty 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:36.480 plus miles and working as an elementary school teacher during 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:41.079 the day. 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:44.840 I think most of my running is constrained by work hours. Currently, 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:51.040 my ideal schedule would be sleeping till like seven and 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:54.839 then wake up, have coffee, roll out for run around 0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:58.760 eight thirty and nine, be done around brunch time, have 0:10:58.880 --> 0:11:02.640 an afternoon nap, maybe do an evening walk for like 0:11:02.760 --> 0:11:06.400 active recovery or a double session. That's the dream of 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:10.960 like the absolute pro runner lifestyle. But during the school year, 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:13.440 I have to be at school at eight am, which 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:18.160 makes morning runs challenging, and that means I have to 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:21.760 get up at five am and get out running by 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:25.400 six am, be done by seven seven thirty, and then 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:29.520 get to school. I just become completely wiped out by 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:32.719 like ten am, and you're like, there's still four more 0:11:32.760 --> 0:11:36.800 hours of school. So these days I tend to be 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:41.800 a little bit gentler on myself as far as when 0:11:42.040 --> 0:11:45.520 I fit the run in. I know always that like 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:47.920 if I try to get up in the morning and 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:50.280 do it, I might be able to run a little 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:53.080 bit faster or get a bit more quality run in 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:57.480 the morning, but that means I am sacrificing my sleep, 0:11:57.600 --> 0:12:01.120 because no matter how hard you try, it's really hard 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:03.439 to go to bed at nine, so you can get 0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:08.080 up at five. I think what's key to preparing for 0:12:08.120 --> 0:12:12.880 an ultra is this idea of training specific systems, kind 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:17.439 of a time on feet approach, where you go into 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:20.640 some of your long runs already tired from the week 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:23.720 of training that you did. I like to have at 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:26.800 least a couple weekends where I am running at least 0:12:26.840 --> 0:12:30.720 three hours Saturday and Sunday back to back, and one 0:12:30.720 --> 0:12:36.480 of those might actually have faster efforts, harder efforts in there, 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:40.240 so that you get used to running hard when you're tired. 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:44.440 And it's kind of about fatigue management because there's a 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:46.240 lot of things that you can get away with when 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:48.880 you're running and racing for two and a half to 0:12:48.920 --> 0:12:52.440 three hours versus like four to seven hours. 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:56.720 So EO very strategically spends about two to three hours 0:12:56.720 --> 0:13:00.000 a day training and working to mimic the fatigue she experience. 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:02.720 Isn't a race, and we know some of her races 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:05.320 keep her awake for at least twenty four hours, but 0:13:05.400 --> 0:13:07.760 what does she think about sleep during training periods? 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:12.920 It's essential in order to not get injured and not 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:19.520 burn out. Sleep is a great indicator of your overall 0:13:19.600 --> 0:13:23.720 well being and also usually one of the first signs 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:30.800 of overtraining is a noticeable decline in sleep quality and quantity. 0:13:31.000 --> 0:13:35.800 So you fall into this vicious cycle where you are fatigued, 0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:39.280 but your body is so hyped up on the stress 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:42.960 hormones that you can't actually get enough sleep. And so 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:46.640 one of the early signs that we need to be 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:51.080 careful of is like, if we notice that we're consistently 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:55.079 sleeping poorly, it's definitely a sign that we're on the 0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:59.880 road to getting overtrained, which is this chronic state of 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:07.480 lack of recovery for your body when you are pushing 0:14:07.640 --> 0:14:12.760 your body through the hardest weeks of training. A lot 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:17.280 of times we as athletes want to know what's the 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:20.880 secret to performance, and a lot of times the answer 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:23.720 is just get more rest and get more recovery, Like 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:27.680 ninety percent of your gains can be made if you 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:29.360 just sleep more. 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:34.080 We know that sleep plays a major role in keeping 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:37.360 our bodies healthy and free of injuries during intense training 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:41.520 and competition, but can it help us run faster or further? 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:45.280 As a ne're a physiologist, we had to go in 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:47.320 and do a lot of sleep studies. So we'd go 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:50.240 into a lab and we'd assess apation maybe if they're 0:14:50.280 --> 0:14:52.960 having any type of sleep disturbances. So it gives you 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:56.360 a real life picture of what sleep is, and it's 0:14:56.480 --> 0:14:59.520 very much comprised of more than just putting your head 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:02.360 on appeal and waking up eight hours later if you're lucky. 0:15:02.720 --> 0:15:07.880 It's very intricate and it houses a lot of physiology. 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:10.880 So we have four stages of sleep, and each stage 0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:14.080 is very important. We've really got two main stages, which 0:15:14.120 --> 0:15:17.520 is rem sleep and non rem sleep. But when we 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:20.160 have a look into these two stages, okay, when we 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:22.840 look at this non rem sleep stage, we have light 0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:26.680 sleep and deep sleep, and this deep sleep stage it's 0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:30.240 really stages three and four, so it happens towards the 0:15:30.400 --> 0:15:31.120 end of the night. 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:33.360 This deep sleep stage. 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:36.440 Is really responsible for the secretion of a lot of 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:39.920 hormones such as our growth hormone, and this is responsible 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:45.120 for regeneration of muscle tissue. Muscle protein synthesis happens during 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:48.680 the stage, so we get a more well rounded recovery. 0:15:49.440 --> 0:15:53.040 We see a lot of players during the NBA playoffs, 0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:56.280 for example, not being able to recover and a lot 0:15:56.320 --> 0:15:59.960 of them getting sick because they have been deprived of sleep. 0:16:00.440 --> 0:16:04.440 When it comes to ball sports such as the NBA, 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:09.360 we see that shooting accuracy isn't as high if you've 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:12.960 deprived a player of sleep, even at a mere two hours. 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:16.120 So if they've slept six hours compared to eight hours, 0:16:16.320 --> 0:16:20.440 their shooting accuracy is down by at least thirty percent, 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:23.280 and that is huge because every single point matters. So 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:25.880 if you're taking a marathon runner, for example, and you've 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:28.200 deprived them of sleep, they're going to be more prone 0:16:28.280 --> 0:16:32.680 to injury, they're going to be more fatigued, and in fact, 0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:35.680 their rate of perceived exertion is not going to be 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:38.480 as high. There's one wonderful study that was done actually 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:42.040 on sleep deprivation and endurance athletes show that the first 0:16:42.080 --> 0:16:46.840 thing that happens is their ability to keep pushing is dampened. 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:50.080 So if they can usually run ten miles, let's just 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:53.440 say at ease, if they've deprived themselves of sleep, they're 0:16:53.480 --> 0:16:56.560 probably going to get to maybe the six or seven miles, 0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:58.760 and their mind is going to start playing games and 0:16:58.800 --> 0:17:01.440 start saying, oh my god, I'm tired, I'm fatigued, I 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:03.160 don't want to go that far. You don't have to 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:05.280 go that far, just stop, just go a bit slower. 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:09.040 And it's those mind games. And so that's incredibly important too. 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:13.840 And I realized that, Wow, if I only optimized my 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:16.960 sleep back when I was an elite athlete, or back 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:19.840 when I was training over thirty hours a week, and 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:25.320 if I had understood this, understood the science behind sleep, 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:26.920 then I probably would have been a better athlete. I 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:31.040 probably my last race, I came thirteenth, and I think 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:33.919 that if I knew what I knew back then like 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:36.280 what I know today, then maybe I would have come 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:40.720 on a podium, finished top three. 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:43.399 We'll be right back after a brief message from our 0:17:43.400 --> 0:18:00.920 partners at Mattress Firm. 0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:54.000 And now back to chasing sleep. 0:17:57.600 --> 0:18:01.200 Now. I'm certainly no elite runner in some five k's 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:04.440 and one or two ten K's two, and I generally 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:07.480 try to keep up an exercise routine. But learning about 0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:09.879 all of the science that goes into sleep for training 0:18:09.920 --> 0:18:13.000 athletes has me thinking a lot about my own workouts 0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:17.119 and sleep habits. Sleep matters to our performance physically in 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:20.480 a race or at the gym. It's undeniable, But is 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:23.640 that the end of the relationship between sleep and athletic prowess? 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:26.439 In addition to all of this, is it possible that 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:29.359 I'm also sleeping better because I'm keeping up a regular 0:18:29.400 --> 0:18:30.480 exercise routine too. 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:33.919 We've all got this one thing humans in common. It's 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:37.280 called our human nervous system. Okay, It's comprised of the 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:40.080 central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. And what 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:43.560 happens is we want to be in both the sympathetic 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:48.280 nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. And training and 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:51.639 exercising and physical activity is going to be good for 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:55.040 kudiovascular health, and it's going to be good for overall 0:18:55.080 --> 0:18:58.480 sleep quality. If we're not training, it's definitely not going 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:00.399 to be good for the amount of hours that we 0:19:00.480 --> 0:19:03.880 sleep at night. And there's also something called sleep pressure 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:07.080 that builds up during the day. And this happens with me. 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:10.280 I find that if I haven't exerted the amount of energy, 0:19:10.359 --> 0:19:13.080 or I haven't gone out and gotten sunlight, I find 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:16.679 it hard to fall asleep that night. I'm tossing, I'm turning. 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:18.639 It's like I haven't gotten rid of a lot of 0:19:18.680 --> 0:19:22.240 the energy that I've got accumulated. So physical activity during 0:19:22.280 --> 0:19:25.959 the day of any type is very beneficial for sleep quality. 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:30.159 Louisa says, we should also think about the time of 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:32.399 day you're working out so that we can make the 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:33.680 most of our sleep. 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:35.760 And avoid interrupting our hormonal rhythms. 0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:40.120 The best time for training is the furthest away from 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:43.760 sleep as you can get. So when we are training, 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:46.600 when we wake up, we've got this surge of cortisol, okay, 0:19:46.600 --> 0:19:48.040 and you really want to go out and you want 0:19:48.080 --> 0:19:51.160 to do things. And that's honestly the best time to train. 0:19:51.280 --> 0:19:54.120 Whether you're eating beforehand on alftand I'm not talking about that, 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:57.120 but the best time to train is at least six 0:19:57.200 --> 0:19:59.960 hours away from sleep, because what happens if you do 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:03.840 train close to sleep, you're going to have this increasing 0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:06.359 quartersol and as free quartersol just roaming through your body. 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:09.639 This happens for the next two hours after exercise as well, 0:20:09.840 --> 0:20:12.760 and cortisole doesn't help you sleep. It competes with the 0:20:12.760 --> 0:20:16.160 sleepiness hormones. So this is going to prevent you from 0:20:16.560 --> 0:20:19.520 kind of relaxing and settling your mind down and settling 0:20:19.520 --> 0:20:22.520 your body down to get into sleep. So the best 0:20:22.520 --> 0:20:25.919 time to train for sleep quality would be in the 0:20:25.920 --> 0:20:26.960 morning or mid morning. 0:20:29.800 --> 0:20:32.520 And if you find yourself wavering between an extra hour 0:20:32.640 --> 0:20:34.800 or so of sleep or getting up to hit the 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:38.480 trail or the gym some mornings, Luisa says, our heart 0:20:38.560 --> 0:20:42.600 rate variability or HRV can be an important guide in 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:45.240 determining what our bodies need and what they're ready to 0:20:45.280 --> 0:20:46.640 handle at any moment. 0:20:47.520 --> 0:20:51.600 Should you sacrifice sleep and train or should you sacrifice 0:20:51.640 --> 0:20:54.520 training and sleep? And a really good predictor of this 0:20:54.800 --> 0:20:58.439 is heart rate variability. Almost everybody now who is training 0:20:58.480 --> 0:21:01.560 has access to a wearable and wearable data, and if 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:03.159 you look on this wearable data, it comes up with 0:21:03.200 --> 0:21:07.399 this measurement every day and it's called a heart rate variability. Oftentimes, 0:21:07.400 --> 0:21:09.400 we can wake up every morning and we can feel 0:21:09.440 --> 0:21:11.760 a bit lethargic, okay, and we may not feel good, 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:14.800 and you look at your HRV and maybe it's if 0:21:14.800 --> 0:21:18.000 it's usually at let's just say for argument's sake, you 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:21.119 peak at one hundred every day, but you woke up 0:21:21.200 --> 0:21:25.040 today and it was fifty. That would mean that your 0:21:25.080 --> 0:21:30.480 body isn't well rested and your recovery index isn't that high. Therefore, 0:21:31.440 --> 0:21:33.879 the best thing for you to do in terms of 0:21:34.000 --> 0:21:37.240 long term athletic performance and in terms of overall health, 0:21:37.320 --> 0:21:39.040 the best thing for you to do that day would 0:21:39.119 --> 0:21:43.400 be to go really easy and capitalize on sleep. Whereas 0:21:43.480 --> 0:21:46.360 if you wake up and your HRV let's just say 0:21:46.400 --> 0:21:48.200 it's at one hundred, or maybe it's at one hundred 0:21:48.240 --> 0:21:51.160 and ten, and usually your baseline is one hundred, then 0:21:51.240 --> 0:21:54.440 you have room to go through and do a bit 0:21:54.480 --> 0:21:58.600 of extra hard work that day. And HRV is a 0:21:58.640 --> 0:22:03.240 really great predictor of overall performance recovery. So that's how 0:22:03.280 --> 0:22:05.639 I would judge them. So, if you're going out and 0:22:05.680 --> 0:22:07.639 you really want to learn about your body, you really 0:22:07.640 --> 0:22:09.920 want to learn about your own metrics and your own data, 0:22:10.040 --> 0:22:11.879 the best thing to do would be to have a 0:22:11.880 --> 0:22:15.560 look at your HLB and you know, predict it that way. 0:22:18.760 --> 0:22:22.600 I think before the race it's important to not obsess 0:22:22.880 --> 0:22:26.880 about the night before, because it's really about your two 0:22:26.920 --> 0:22:29.879 to three nights before the night before. Because you know 0:22:29.960 --> 0:22:32.560 we talked earlier about your body can go for twenty 0:22:32.600 --> 0:22:35.600 four hours straight with no problem. So think about it 0:22:35.640 --> 0:22:39.280 as like, say your race is Saturday, your Thursday night 0:22:39.359 --> 0:22:43.639 sleep is going to get you through even if you 0:22:43.640 --> 0:22:47.480 can't sleep Friday night. And a lot of people, myself included, 0:22:47.800 --> 0:22:49.760 tend to not be able to sleep that well the 0:22:49.880 --> 0:22:53.600 night before because you're often doing your last minute preparation. 0:22:54.000 --> 0:22:57.080 You're nervous, you're thinking about the morning, and the more 0:22:57.119 --> 0:22:59.439 you think about sleep, the less you're able to sleep. 0:23:00.119 --> 0:23:01.959 You often have to get up early to you know, 0:23:02.320 --> 0:23:05.080 get to the race and do all your pre race 0:23:05.119 --> 0:23:08.520 stuff anyway, so it's really the two to three days 0:23:08.720 --> 0:23:13.119 before the night before the race that are key. 0:23:14.440 --> 0:23:17.040 Eo has spent the last several years fine tuning the 0:23:17.080 --> 0:23:20.080 way she runs and sleeps to maximize what her body 0:23:20.119 --> 0:23:22.680 and mind can accomplish on race day, whether it's a 0:23:22.720 --> 0:23:25.040 cup of coffee in the morning or a sleep. 0:23:24.840 --> 0:23:28.480 Cash that night. Eo says that consistency is key. 0:23:28.480 --> 0:23:31.439 For any level of running or fitness routine, even if 0:23:31.440 --> 0:23:32.439 you're just getting started. 0:23:34.160 --> 0:23:38.080 I think my best piece of advice would just be 0:23:38.400 --> 0:23:44.640