By Dr Finbar McGrady
How much sleep do I need?
The National Sleep Foundation (US) recommends 7-9 hours
sleep per night for adults. The average adult is only getting around 6.5 hours
per night. I’ve heard many people tell me they can get by on 6 or fewer hours
of sleep without any problems… but this is like a smoker telling me they feel
fine. Even if you feel ok, it is still a significant risk factor for all the
conditions listed above.
Sleep cycles
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Non Rapid eye movement (non-REM) sleep
- Stage 1 – Preparing to fall asleep/very light sleep, easily woken from
- Stage 2 – 50% total sleep time. Preparing for deep sleep.
- Stage 3 – Deep Sleep. 20% total sleep time (Restoration & recovery part of sleep; Memories are stored and unnecessary information pruned out)
REM sleep 20-25
per cent of sleep
This is the dreaming stage of sleep. It gives emotional context to our memories, supporting creativity and helping us make smart decisions. Most REM occurs in the second half of the night, after first 4 hours of sleep. Waking early or having low hours of sleep cuts shorts your REM sleep. REM sleep is essential to our health and athletic performance; so it’s important get the full 7-9 hours total sleep per night.
8 Tips for Best Sleep Ever
- Give high priority to quality sleep. Aim for 8-9 hours of sleep opportunity every night. At best you are likely to have 90% sleep efficiency, so 8 hours in bed would get you just over 7 hours 10 minutes sleep (7 hours in bed- just over 6 hours sleep)
- Get up at the same time every day. This is key to setting a regular bedtime. If you get up at the same time every day you will naturally fall into a regular bedtime.
- Keep the bedroom at a cool temperature. A cold shower or a warm bath at night before bed can aid getting over to sleep.
- Get the light in your life right.
- Get at least 20 minutes of natural light early in the day if possible. In the winter months I use Luminette 2 wearable light therapy glasses for 20 minutes each morning to counteract the effects of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
- Avoid use of electronic devices in the 2 hours before bed; if you must, install a blue light filter.
- Consider blue blocking glasses 2 hours before bed (allows natural melatonin levels to rise). I have glasses from Trudark & BLUblox (I look daft but they really work!) Blue light reduces melatonin production and affects REM sleep.
- Remove any blue LED light in your bedroom (e.g. from chargers). Even small amounts can switch off your melatonin and interfere with sleep quality.
- Relax: have a routine where you can wind down before bed. This may include reading (not on electronic device), breathing exercises, visualisation, essential oils, stretches etc…
- Avoid the wrong stimulants.
- Avoid hard training within 3 hours before bed. I used to do a hard swim at 9pm one evening a week. It took me ages to get to sleep after and I was always wrecked the next day.
- Avoid eating a big meal or drinking too much fluid within 3 hours of bedtime.
- Avoid coffee (and other caffeinated products) after 2pm. (Hampers progression to Deep Sleep)
- Avoid/limit alcohol before bed; disrupts REM sleep. My Oura ring sleep tracker confirms lower Heart Rate Variability (bad) reduced sleep efficiency (bad) and reduced REM sleep (bad) if I drink more than 2 glasses wine (4 units).
- Do not use sleeping tablets. Don’t even ask for them! They are only effective in the very short term and quickly become addictive and cause other side effects such as falls and hangovers.
- If you can’t sleep, get up and leave the bedroom. Do something relaxing or boring for a while then try to go back to bed again.
The author, Dr Finbar McGrady, is a medical doctor and performance triathlete specialising in balancing healthy lifestyle with performance sport
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