One of the primary components of a good fitness program is sleeping. That tends to surprise people who are constantly trading in minutes of sleep to accomplish other tasks. We get up early to have some quiet time before the kids are up. We stay up later to finish work. We wake up in the middle of the night because the kids are feeling bad or need something.
We are a sleep-deprived nation. We’re not alone in suffering from that sleep-deprivation; it’s affecting not only us, but also our children. For example, my daughter started having trouble at her preschool recently. She was acting up in class, around the same time every day.
What was her problem? Why was she being so bad?
Easy, her bedtime was 8:30 in the evening. That’s a good time. But she’s an early riser by nature and she was up before 6 every morning. Unfortunately, just because she was going to bed at 8:30 – she wasn’t actually going to sleep till after 10. That means on average she was getting about 7.5 hours of sleep a night.
That is nowhere near enough.
Sleep deprivation can make kids act like they are hyperactive. They get grumpy. They get angry. They get out of control. So what do we do?
Well for us, that meant moving her bedtime back an hour. No more movies at bedtime and quieter activities before hand. Her bedtime is now at 8, she’s usually asleep before 9 and she sleeps as late as 6 most mornings.
If you’re guessing her behavior improved – you are right. That same sleep deprivation that affects our children, affects us as well. You may think you are more getting more done by staying up later and getting up earlier. The truth is, you might be for a very short time.
But after a while, that sleep deprivation takes its toll on you. Your reaction times are slowed. Your body’s ability to heal is diminished. Your work productivity will reduce. You increase your opportunities for illness. Your work out will suffer because your muscles can’t repair and your endurance will drop.
Let’s put it this way, borrowing from Peter and Paul, leaves Mary deeply in debt with no where to go. Make sleep a critical part of any fitness program. I know that while I may want to stay up late to get work done, every time I do it I end up with a violent head cold within a few weeks. I don’t just get over the cold, I spend it being pretty sick.
My work suffers too. So does my family life.
So how much sleep did you get last night? Your baby needs 16 to 18 hours a day; your preschooler needs 10 to 12. Your school age and teenage kids need 8 to 10. The average adult needs 7 to 8 hours. Don’t short change yourself. You can’t recover sleep debt – once you’ve lost sleep – it’s gone for good.