Optimizing Sleep: Myths, Mechanics, and Tips & Tricks

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Welcome to the Optimizing Beyond podcast. I'm
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Josh Negron, and this show is all about sharing
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lessons, ideas, and strategies that sharpen your
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thinking, strengthen your habits, and push you
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to grow beyond comfort zones. Let's dive in.
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Welcome back to the show. If you joined us last
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week, we talked about over -optimization and
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things that... trackers and devices can sometimes
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cause more anxiety than good in our lives. However,
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today I want to transition into talking about
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optimizing sleep and trackers can be a big part
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in helping you do that. Even if you do a professional
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sleep study, now there are ones you can do at
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home and they typically use a tracker that they
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put on your chest with some leads and then on
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your finger. And that's the very modern professional
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way of getting sleep tracked and seeing what
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might be going on. Sleep is something that I
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believe affects so much. many people, which is
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why I'm so passionate about it in ways that I've
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optimized my sleep and help others as well. So
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today we're going to cover a lot of myths in
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rapid fire format around schedules and habits
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and some sleep aids and also What are some disruptors
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in sleep that you can really look out for, especially
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things that you can knock out easily? What are
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those lower rung things that you can really take
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care of that can have a massive impact on your
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sleep? And then just simply some tips and tricks
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and things you can adjust. And then very lastly,
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we're going to cover some supplements. I know
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that it's so tempting to just want to know what
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you can pop in supplement form just to get your
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sleep better. But really, there is a foundation
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of habits that I believe are much, much stronger
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yield. than just taking some supplements. So
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we'll cover that last and see if we can help
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you improve your sleep. Now, I've been following
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sleep habits and sleep professionals for a very
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long time. There was a recent guest on the Diary
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of CEO podcast with Steven named Dr. Michael
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Bruce, and he's been a sleep doctor for over
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20 years. And he also has clinician experience
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in the psychological space and really melds those
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two arenas to help people get better sleep. it
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was a very good listen. I'll link it down in
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the description so you can take a listen. But
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we're going to cover a lot of the things they
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discussed on that episode, as well as some additional
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things when it comes to sleep. So let's get into
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it. So the first and major thing is sleep duration.
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We hear this number of eight hours so often.
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I think it's something that mostly everyone's
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bought into, but it's really not that simple.
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And just in my own life, it's been something
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that we have discovered. Ashley and I mentioned
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it in our last episode. We noticed that her and
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I do not require the same amount of sleep. pretty
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frustrating since our schedules are pretty closely
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tied together. We like to go to bed at the same
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time and wake up at the same time. And the one
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that is at the disadvantage is me because I consistently
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require more sleep than her. And so she's not
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tired. So what's she going to do? Her trackers
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over time have described that she really only
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needs anywhere between six and a half to seven
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hours of sleep, whereas my baseline is seven
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hours. And then depending on on my strain and
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effort at the gym, not even mentioning any additional
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stressors like travel, work, or anything like
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that, that will bump up my sleep need to eight,
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over eight, and sometimes even nine. And then
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again, if I'm not getting that consistent number,
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then it just adds to my sleep debt, which is
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just getting in a hole that sometimes I can't
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dig out of unless we adjust our sleep. So this
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has been something that has been plaguing me
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for a long time now. Now, the most important
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thing I want to highlight here is that sleep
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should really be a foundational part of your
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life and addressing it and getting it dialed
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in is so much more important than a lot of other
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things that people focus on. So that's just why
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I'm so passionate about it. There was a period
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of time where I was trying to maximize both ends
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of my schedule, going to bed later so I could
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get a lot of stuff done and then waking up. really
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early. I was pushing that wake up time earlier
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and earlier and earlier. I think at one point
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I was almost at 4 a .m. just so I could get in
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there and get a solid morning routine and crush
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a bunch of things before people even woke up.
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The downside of that was when I was getting only
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around five and a half hours of sleep, I noticed
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a steep drop off in mental cognitive ability
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and mental stability as well. I was certainly
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not as resilient to stress and issues and I was
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was also very emotionally unstable. Then I noticed
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that when I put that back into place, got at
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least six to six and a half that drastically
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changed so that I knew I found my limit there.
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So not everyone is stuck at eight hours. Now,
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you don't need a sleep tracker to do that. Just
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how do you feel? But those trackers definitely
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help bring some data and some proof to what you
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may already feel. And if you're trying to get
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by with six or less, chances are you probably
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are not getting enough sleep. And if you work
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out extremely high effort as well, then that
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is just adding 30 to 60 minutes of additional
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sleep needs. You need to understand that. I had
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a mentor who had a coach that said, you can't
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work out if you don't get more than X hours of
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sleep. So this was his way of coaching her through
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making sure she got enough sleep. just for her
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baseline, then for working out, if that's something
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that she was gonna do, and beyond that. So that
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was really, really helpful. Now, in talking about
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getting enough sleep, there is this myth that
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you can just catch up on sleep. Now, this is
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a yo -yo that I fight all the time. I just don't
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get enough. Typically, my base need plus my strain
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need is gonna be right around that seven and
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a half to eight hour window. I typically get
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seven to 7 .15, so I'm always leeching. adding
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the sleep debt throughout the week. And then
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the weekend comes, the myth is, I can just catch
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up on sleep. This is not true. It is, but it
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isn't. So let's cover it. There's two metrics
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that you'll yo -yo if you do that. So you have
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a basic sleep need, adding stress on top of that.
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That's the daily need you need for the day. When
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you don't meet that, you have sleep debt that
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accumulates over time. And you're like, well,
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I could just catch it up on the weekend. We have
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this other metric that really kind of traps you
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into you can't just pay back all in one lump
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sum without some penalty. That's called sleep
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consistency. So imagine two brackets of the time
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you go to sleep and the bracket of when you wake
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up. So there is a lot of research around how
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sleep consistency is also very, very, very critical.
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So there'll be times where a doctor or your device
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will tell you, hey, you're getting to bed later.
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Don't wake up later. Wake up at the same time.
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Or if you have the weekend coming up and you
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can sleep in because you don't have anything
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to wake up for, you might be able to pay back
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some of that sleep debt. But you'll throw off
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your sleep consistency, which is also going to
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cause you some penalties in sleep quality, circadian
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rhythm, and more. So we talk a lot about this
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show, about daily anything changes everything.
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So it's definitely better. So this is good, better,
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best, always. But it's definitely better to get
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that sleep. daily the same way it makes sense
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to go to the gym daily versus trying to go on
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a Saturday and knocking out seven hours in the
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gym. That doesn't make any sense. Nobody thinks
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that's a good idea. Well, sleep's the same way.
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So if you're like, well, all I got to do is make
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it through the week. I'm going to just slum it,
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get five or six hours a day. And then on the
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weekend, I can get like a 12 -hour night and
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everything will be good. You'll knock out your
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sleep debt. but it's not as good as getting the
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daily sleep need that you need. So something
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that I've been working on, tweaking my metrics,
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is trying to go, even when I don't need to wake
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up the next day, say a weekend on a Saturday
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or Sunday, I'll still try to wake up at the same
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time. Now that sounds super counterintuitive.
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And the sleep doctor on the episode said, I actually
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rather you, if you're going to mess with your
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sleep consistency, wake up time is more critical.
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So do not wake up later. You can go to bed earlier
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if you want to get some lead time, but that's
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not as fun. Nobody likes doing that. Who wants
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to go to bed at 8 o 'clock, right? So that one
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is really, really tough. Sleep consistency is
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one that is not talked about as often. And if
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you can just catch up on sleep, everything's
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good, right? Well, not everything is great. So
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it's better than not getting those hours for
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sure. But it is going to cost you, and there
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are some penalties to that if you do it on a
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regular basis. You cannot outrun bad sleep. And
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even if you pay the sleep debt back, you still
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have lagging consequences. of that if that's
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something that you do on the regular. And you
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can definitely go in deeper as to why it's important
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to wake up at the same time every day. It has
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to do with your circadian rhythm and your melatonin
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clock and a lot of those things that help you
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go to bed the next day. So if you normally wake
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up at, let's say, 6 a .m. every single day, and
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then on a Saturday, you're like, I can sleep
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in, it's all good. And then you wake up at 9
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a .m. something crazy. You've just shifted that
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window three hours. It doesn't seem like a big
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deal. You paid back your sleep debt. You feel
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really good. But then you're shifting your Sunday
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sleep, your Saturday night sleep, and you're
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likely going to get worse sleep, potentially
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start out your week poorly on that Monday. because
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you slept like crap on Sunday, and then so on
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and so forth. So this is something that just
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a lot of people don't know, and sleep doctors
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tend to really emphasize, listen, if you can't
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make both sides of the bracket consistent every
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single day, then try to make the wake up one
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as solid as you possibly can, and then variable
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the one on the back. Again, way less fun, because
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staying up late is fun. And who wants to be an
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80 -year -old person having dinner at 4 .30 and
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going to bed at 6 .30? Nobody. Now for some myths
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around your environment and your habits. I don't
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think it's a secret that alcohol is something
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that maybe helps you get to sleep, but definitely
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does not help you stay asleep or have quality
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sleep at all. Now, this is a personal decision
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for everyone. However, Alcohol has been linked
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to terrible sleep. In so many studies now, I
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think it's pretty common knowledge. I know that
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when I started paying attention to my whoop,
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when I would have even just one drink at dinner,
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I noticed that my sleep was absolute garbage.
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And it asked me questions like, hey, you know,
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are you sick? Do you have an injury? Or did you
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have alcohol? And every single time it was like,
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yep, I don't think this is worth it. And there's
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a lot of research tied to that alcohol can keep
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you from stage three and four of sleep, which
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are the stages that clean out certain proteins
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in the brain. And so the accumulation of those
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proteins, if it's something that's done on a
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daily or regular basis, can increase the risk
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of Alzheimer's. And who wants that? For me, it
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was an easy decision. I was like, you know what?
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Like, I don't need this for dinner. I don't need
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to do it socially. It was something that I could
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just take or leave. So for me, it was an easy
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call. And also I'll tell you in today's day and
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age, even with crowds that do drink, if you tell
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them that you don't. In my experience, I don't
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get any flack about it. In fact, it's something
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that a lot of people respect. And so if you say
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that, people are like, awesome, man, respect
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that, totally. And you can get a club soda with
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a lime and just call it a day. Speaking of something
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that helps you go to sleep but isn't always great
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for sleep is melatonin. It's something a lot
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of people use to go to sleep. And it's not favored
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by a lot of sleep doctors because it is a sleep
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initiator, but it's not actually responsible
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for causing the feeling of sleepiness. That's
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more. adenosine which is linked to caffeine and
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you guessed it linked to what time you regularly
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wake up. So if you got those other things a little
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bit off like we talked about earlier then melatonin
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doesn't always help and you may just take some
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and still not be sleepy. which is no bueno. Tied
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to that, there are a lot of sleep experts that
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say melatonin is a no -go for kids. Their body
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actually produces up to four times more than
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an adult, and so additional doses are not beneficial
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for kids, and they can actually be disruptive
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to young children, particularly before and during
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puberty, and can affect those things. So if you're
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a parent, a lot of sleep experts will recommend
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that you look into more environmental changes
00:12:18.419 --> 00:12:21.139
in ways to get the family to wind down to help
00:12:21.139 --> 00:12:23.320
you. kids fall asleep versus actually dosing
00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:25.019
them with something. And a lot of supplements
00:12:25.019 --> 00:12:28.480
have been exposed for having wildly different
00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:31.440
melatonin contents than what they claim, which
00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:34.539
for kids can be even more detrimental. So that's
00:12:34.539 --> 00:12:35.919
something to have on your radar if you are a
00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:38.360
parent. Along the lines of dosing things, there's
00:12:38.360 --> 00:12:40.539
a lot of people who unfortunately can't get to
00:12:40.539 --> 00:12:43.019
sleep without some other sort of assistance.
00:12:43.220 --> 00:12:47.019
And so PM medications or even the ones that take
00:12:47.019 --> 00:12:49.539
the pain relievers out and just help you fall
00:12:49.539 --> 00:12:52.059
asleep are all Also, very common ways for people
00:12:52.059 --> 00:12:55.059
to regularly go to sleep. Now, these are popular
00:12:55.059 --> 00:12:58.059
because they're not as habit -forming in perception
00:12:58.059 --> 00:13:01.019
as maybe some prescription sleep medications.
00:13:01.379 --> 00:13:04.179
However, there is growing concern about regular
00:13:04.179 --> 00:13:06.840
use of these drugs because they have a similar
00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:10.500
effect on stage four of sleep to alcohol and
00:13:10.500 --> 00:13:13.379
potentially not allowing you to regularly go
00:13:13.379 --> 00:13:15.700
to that place, which causes the buildup of those
00:13:15.700 --> 00:13:17.419
proteins because they're not able to be flushed
00:13:17.419 --> 00:13:19.139
out because they're typically only flushed out
00:13:19.139 --> 00:13:21.019
around that stage. stage. And so you have that
00:13:21.019 --> 00:13:24.139
increased risk of Alzheimer's again, daily, anything
00:13:24.139 --> 00:13:26.240
changes everything. So if that's something that
00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:28.700
you're doing on the daily, then you could be
00:13:28.700 --> 00:13:32.539
spiking that risk for Alzheimer's, which is no
00:13:32.539 --> 00:13:35.100
good. So if that is something that you regularly
00:13:35.100 --> 00:13:37.840
do, I think it would be very, very valuable for
00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:40.460
you to assess your sleep situation, what you
00:13:40.460 --> 00:13:43.559
might be doing to try to find any other low hanging
00:13:43.559 --> 00:13:46.139
fruit that you can attack. to try to get out
00:13:46.139 --> 00:13:48.240
from underneath the over -the -counter drugs
00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:51.000
to help you go to sleep i get it no judgment
00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:52.600
when you want to go to sleep you want to go to
00:13:52.600 --> 00:13:55.129
sleep but We want to look at forward -thinking
00:13:55.129 --> 00:13:58.169
ways that you can change your sleep so that you're
00:13:58.169 --> 00:14:00.669
not using these on the daily. Now, along the
00:14:00.669 --> 00:14:02.850
line of habits, I will tell you that when you
00:14:02.850 --> 00:14:06.669
get to around mid -30s, you may have to start
00:14:06.669 --> 00:14:08.870
going to the restroom in the middle of the night,
00:14:08.970 --> 00:14:11.529
usually around the 1 to 3 a .m. window. Now,
00:14:11.549 --> 00:14:13.809
this is an interesting thing that I hear everyone
00:14:13.809 --> 00:14:16.649
talk about, and my wife this last month was like,
00:14:16.769 --> 00:14:19.450
hey, I read something that says that when you
00:14:19.450 --> 00:14:21.429
wake up and you have to go to the bathroom, you
00:14:21.429 --> 00:14:23.730
actually might not have to. to go. And I was
00:14:23.730 --> 00:14:25.889
like, what? That's crazy. But what they discussed
00:14:25.889 --> 00:14:29.090
was since many people sleep on their sides, then
00:14:29.090 --> 00:14:31.529
it's increased pressure on the bladder that can
00:14:31.529 --> 00:14:33.690
cause you to have that intense feeling of having
00:14:33.690 --> 00:14:36.750
to go where if you just turn to the other side
00:14:36.750 --> 00:14:39.669
or flat on your back for a couple minutes, that
00:14:39.669 --> 00:14:41.809
feeling subsides and you can go back to sleep.
00:14:41.929 --> 00:14:43.730
I'm telling you right now, there was absolutely
00:14:43.730 --> 00:14:46.230
no way I was buying into this. I knew this was
00:14:46.230 --> 00:14:48.690
total crap, but I got to tell you, I've tried
00:14:48.690 --> 00:14:52.320
it and it is. impressive how well it works. I'd
00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:55.659
say now I probably get up maybe one out of five
00:14:55.659 --> 00:14:58.100
nights, and the rest of them, I just, when I
00:14:58.100 --> 00:15:00.360
wake up, I'm like, oh, I think I gotta go. Wait,
00:15:00.440 --> 00:15:02.639
flip over to the other side, and then I'm waking
00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:05.919
up to my alarm. It's crazy. So it's been frustrating
00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:08.460
me for a long time. I've been waking up to have
00:15:08.460 --> 00:15:10.919
to go probably for three or four years now, and
00:15:10.919 --> 00:15:13.679
the reason why that's important for me, if I
00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:17.360
wake up at 2 a .m. or earlier, I'm good to go.
00:15:17.740 --> 00:15:21.940
But if I wake up at 2 .30 to 3 or later, it's
00:15:21.940 --> 00:15:24.820
Armageddon. The odds of me being able to go back
00:15:24.820 --> 00:15:27.820
to sleep... get so much lower because the brain
00:15:27.820 --> 00:15:29.940
starts spooling up, start thinking about things
00:15:29.940 --> 00:15:32.679
before I can just get back in bed quickly. And
00:15:32.679 --> 00:15:34.259
so if you're telling me that I don't have to
00:15:34.259 --> 00:15:36.799
get up at all, game changer. So I'm just telling
00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:38.700
you right now that the doctor on Diarrhea CEO
00:15:38.700 --> 00:15:41.139
talked about this, that a lot of times when you
00:15:41.139 --> 00:15:43.299
wake up and you have to go, you may not have
00:15:43.299 --> 00:15:45.580
to. It can just be an artificial urge because
00:15:45.580 --> 00:15:47.179
of that pressure on the bladder because you're
00:15:47.179 --> 00:15:49.200
all scrunched up, you're on one side. And so
00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:51.299
just flip over to the other side or lay on your
00:15:51.299 --> 00:15:54.370
back for a second. and you might be surprised
00:15:54.370 --> 00:15:56.490
that you don't have to go. Now, don't chug a
00:15:56.490 --> 00:15:58.649
ton of water before you gotta go to bed, obviously.
00:15:58.929 --> 00:16:00.830
Now, if you chugged a bunch of water the last
00:16:00.830 --> 00:16:03.009
couple hours before sleep, yeah, I mean, you're
00:16:03.009 --> 00:16:05.330
stuck, you gotta go. So the one out of those
00:16:05.330 --> 00:16:07.769
five nights, or sometimes maybe I'm behind on
00:16:07.769 --> 00:16:10.429
my water for the day and I gotta drink quite
00:16:10.429 --> 00:16:13.110
a bit at or around dinner, and then I could be
00:16:13.110 --> 00:16:15.360
in trouble in the middle of the night. But I've
00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:18.179
been really surprised how much this works. So
00:16:18.179 --> 00:16:20.279
give it a whirl. I'm telling you right now, it
00:16:20.279 --> 00:16:22.519
is legit. The last thing I'll say about that
00:16:22.519 --> 00:16:25.820
is the doctor talks a lot about heart rate and
00:16:25.820 --> 00:16:28.559
how that's related to the ability or inability
00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:31.139
to go to sleep. And so when that heart rate is
00:16:31.139 --> 00:16:34.620
high, the difficulty of going to sleep is much
00:16:34.620 --> 00:16:38.019
more in your face. And so the risk of getting
00:16:38.019 --> 00:16:40.919
up to even go to the bathroom, it causes an increase
00:16:40.919 --> 00:16:44.000
in that heart rate, which can risk you being
00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:46.309
able to... go back to sleep, let alone your brain
00:16:46.309 --> 00:16:48.860
spooling up and going off on a sprint. So let
00:16:48.860 --> 00:16:50.600
me know if that works for you. I know it worked
00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:53.000
for me and it's only been a month and I've been
00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:56.059
really impressed. The next myth is that wake
00:16:56.059 --> 00:16:58.500
up in the morning, get right to some coffee or
00:16:58.500 --> 00:17:00.700
to some pre -workout or any form of caffeine.
00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:02.700
This has been something that's been addressed
00:17:02.700 --> 00:17:05.799
by a lot of sleep and performance experts for
00:17:05.799 --> 00:17:08.599
a hot minute now. There is a lot of research
00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:12.420
to suggest that caffeine is minimally, if not
00:17:12.420 --> 00:17:15.640
at all effective, within a 90 -minute window
00:17:15.640 --> 00:17:18.890
when you first wake up. at least 60 minutes.
00:17:19.109 --> 00:17:21.930
So it's best to avoid caffeine in that window
00:17:21.930 --> 00:17:24.569
because it doesn't do anything. So among a lot
00:17:24.569 --> 00:17:26.750
of things going on in your body when you first
00:17:26.750 --> 00:17:28.690
wake up, your cortisol is going to be at its
00:17:28.690 --> 00:17:31.450
highest among some other hormones. And so when
00:17:31.450 --> 00:17:34.369
you take that caffeine, it is going to have minimal
00:17:34.369 --> 00:17:36.890
to no effect. And what's the point of that in
00:17:36.890 --> 00:17:39.950
the first place? So for me, I wake up early enough
00:17:39.950 --> 00:17:42.890
before my workout to do my morning routine stuff.
00:17:43.029 --> 00:17:45.049
And when I'm done with that, by the time I'm
00:17:45.049 --> 00:17:47.450
ready to take my pre -workout, it's been almost
00:17:47.450 --> 00:17:50.049
90 minutes, and then I can take that and have
00:17:50.049 --> 00:17:52.730
20 to 30 minutes before it kicks in to do my
00:17:52.730 --> 00:17:54.869
workout. On days that I don't work out in the
00:17:54.869 --> 00:17:58.190
morning, I definitely wait 60 to 90 minutes before
00:17:58.190 --> 00:18:01.130
I have my first cup of coffee or any other drink
00:18:01.130 --> 00:18:03.849
that has any caffeine in it. Because again, what's
00:18:03.849 --> 00:18:06.609
the point if it's not going to have an actual
00:18:06.609 --> 00:18:08.950
benefit to you? There's two other myths that
00:18:08.950 --> 00:18:11.450
get talked about pretty often. The first one
00:18:11.450 --> 00:18:14.450
is that having a TV in the bedroom is Armageddon.
00:18:14.549 --> 00:18:18.049
Now, a lot of biohacks will say TVs in the bedroom
00:18:18.049 --> 00:18:20.430
are forbidden, and they have good reasons why
00:18:20.430 --> 00:18:23.109
they say that. However, there are a lot of sleep
00:18:23.109 --> 00:18:25.710
experts that are saying that this is less of
00:18:25.710 --> 00:18:27.630
a deal breaker than people make it out to be,
00:18:27.750 --> 00:18:30.470
that boredom is something that helps people go
00:18:30.470 --> 00:18:32.390
to sleep. They're like, if you have bouts of
00:18:32.390 --> 00:18:34.569
insomnia, try to have some of the world's most
00:18:34.569 --> 00:18:36.990
boring books next to you that you can pick up
00:18:36.990 --> 00:18:39.730
and read, and you'll find it easier to go to
00:18:39.730 --> 00:18:42.109
sleep. Same thing with what you can have on the
00:18:42.109 --> 00:18:45.109
TV. Some people have boring or predictable or
00:18:45.109 --> 00:18:47.140
maybe reruns of shows they've watched a thousand
00:18:47.140 --> 00:18:49.640
times. And that's why it makes it easier for
00:18:49.640 --> 00:18:51.799
them to go to sleep. And it can also serve as
00:18:51.799 --> 00:18:54.960
the background noise to help someone go to sleep
00:18:54.960 --> 00:18:57.440
and stay asleep as well. So, and the last one
00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:00.000
in this category was that if you sleep in separate
00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:02.299
beds, your marriage is over. I know I've heard
00:19:02.299 --> 00:19:05.099
that before. And the sleep doctor was like, you
00:19:05.099 --> 00:19:07.599
know, like this, this doesn't have to mean that
00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:10.740
for some people it is better for them if they've
00:19:10.740 --> 00:19:12.859
got something going on or maybe heavy snoring
00:19:12.859 --> 00:19:15.839
or other sorts of disorders. or even sleep schedule
00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:18.039
situations that people have to do those things.
00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:21.140
Your marriage is also built on many, many other
00:19:21.140 --> 00:19:23.880
things where if you have the right intentionality,
00:19:23.880 --> 00:19:26.640
you can definitely overcome anything like this.
00:19:26.759 --> 00:19:28.720
And it's arguable that a marriage is more in
00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:31.960
danger when people are irritated, irritable,
00:19:31.960 --> 00:19:34.619
and not well -rested. So if there are certain
00:19:34.619 --> 00:19:37.930
ways that you need to adapt... to do that in
00:19:37.930 --> 00:19:39.990
order to take care of your sleep. Don't be afraid
00:19:39.990 --> 00:19:42.509
to do so. Like anything, you want to make sure
00:19:42.509 --> 00:19:44.869
you adjust and you keep your intentionality with
00:19:44.869 --> 00:19:46.849
your marriage where it needs to be. Now on this
00:19:46.849 --> 00:19:50.109
episode, Dr. Bruce talked a lot about sleep apnea.
00:19:50.289 --> 00:19:53.430
Now this is a myth that only old and or fat guys
00:19:53.430 --> 00:19:57.130
have sleep apnea and that is simply not the case.
00:19:57.309 --> 00:20:00.170
Also, the symptoms between men and women present
00:20:00.170 --> 00:20:03.369
differently. So he said in women, sleep apnea
00:20:03.369 --> 00:20:07.130
is extremely undiagnosed as well. as men who
00:20:07.130 --> 00:20:08.990
are not overweight because it's not the first
00:20:08.990 --> 00:20:11.630
thing that they think to go get tested. Now,
00:20:11.670 --> 00:20:14.569
good news, since COVID, a lot of sleep tests
00:20:14.569 --> 00:20:17.390
have started to transition to the comfort of
00:20:17.390 --> 00:20:19.269
your own home where you don't have to go to a
00:20:19.269 --> 00:20:21.650
center or you have to try to go to sleep, which...
00:20:21.980 --> 00:20:24.279
I don't imagine that would be easy for anyone
00:20:24.279 --> 00:20:26.900
where now you can do a lot of sleep studies with
00:20:26.900 --> 00:20:28.660
just the device that you wear that they give
00:20:28.660 --> 00:20:31.440
you and you can get some pretty quick and easy
00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:33.740
analysis as to whether or not you have sleep
00:20:33.740 --> 00:20:35.839
apnea. Now, why does this matter? You can do
00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:38.480
a lot of research as to why it's dangerous. However,
00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:41.599
the major thing that he talked about was, again,
00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:44.960
this disruption of the ability to get to stage
00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:47.279
three and most importantly, stage four of sleep,
00:20:47.380 --> 00:20:49.440
which we've mentioned a couple other times already
00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:51.549
and how that keeps you consistent. consistently
00:20:51.549 --> 00:20:54.089
out of that can cause that buildup of proteins.
00:20:54.230 --> 00:20:57.470
And again, a sharp spike in the risk of Alzheimer's.
00:20:57.529 --> 00:20:59.390
And that's just why would you want to mess with
00:20:59.390 --> 00:21:02.589
that? And something so easy to treat with something
00:21:02.589 --> 00:21:06.089
like a mask. And that's not the only way to treat
00:21:06.089 --> 00:21:08.650
it. He did mention that for some people, even
00:21:08.650 --> 00:21:11.190
just a mouth guard is something that can be really
00:21:11.190 --> 00:21:13.890
effective. So if you're like, man, I don't want
00:21:13.890 --> 00:21:16.950
to be Darth Vader. And maybe you already have
00:21:16.950 --> 00:21:19.089
a diagnosis and you're just never gotten the
00:21:19.089 --> 00:21:21.339
mask. Ask some questions. The treatment of this
00:21:21.339 --> 00:21:23.640
has grown quite a bit over the years, and so
00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:26.380
you may have other alternatives if you really
00:21:26.380 --> 00:21:28.720
don't want to wear the mask. There are full facial
00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:31.519
ones. There's ones that just go in your nose.
00:21:31.779 --> 00:21:34.000
And so you have flexibility on things that you
00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:36.319
can ask. Don't just say yes. Ask your doctor,
00:21:36.380 --> 00:21:38.960
like, hey, what if I don't want to be Darth Vader
00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:41.359
every night? What options do I have? What can
00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:43.440
I do? There are some that have the machine at
00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:45.339
home and then wear the mouth guard out when they
00:21:45.339 --> 00:21:47.700
travel. So there's a lot of flexibility there.
00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:50.079
Ask your doctor. Talk to them about it. But it's
00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:53.430
just a huge shame if you have that. and one you
00:21:53.430 --> 00:21:55.490
don't even know or two you're avoiding it because
00:21:55.490 --> 00:21:58.470
you have a certain idea of what it would be and
00:21:58.470 --> 00:22:00.910
stigmas attached to that that are really just
00:22:00.910 --> 00:22:03.910
myths and aren't true so ask questions get curious
00:22:03.910 --> 00:22:06.130
and get it figured out because when steven asked
00:22:06.130 --> 00:22:08.829
him what's the one thing everyone can do to help
00:22:08.829 --> 00:22:11.009
improve their sleep he's like get tested for
00:22:11.009 --> 00:22:12.950
sleep apnea i'm telling you right now he's like
00:22:12.950 --> 00:22:15.170
you'd be surprised how many people have it and
00:22:15.170 --> 00:22:18.470
he has it and he's not a big dude i mean he is
00:22:18.470 --> 00:22:21.690
older and so he's like i wear a mask and so it
00:22:21.869 --> 00:22:24.529
It just is what it is. And I sleep so much better.
00:22:24.630 --> 00:22:27.609
And again, that's just such a huge deal. So let's
00:22:27.609 --> 00:22:29.829
transition into some quick tips and tricks of
00:22:29.829 --> 00:22:31.710
things that you can do to optimize your sleep
00:22:31.710 --> 00:22:33.930
better and better over time. So we talked about
00:22:33.930 --> 00:22:36.490
it earlier. Wake up the same time every day.
00:22:36.549 --> 00:22:38.329
Let's figure out a way that you can do that.
00:22:38.650 --> 00:22:40.890
to keep that sleep consistency and let's call
00:22:40.890 --> 00:22:44.009
it wake consistency more consistent over time
00:22:44.009 --> 00:22:47.250
as daily as possible is going to help your brain
00:22:47.250 --> 00:22:49.569
release the right chemicals and hormones at the
00:22:49.569 --> 00:22:52.230
right time every single time to match the time
00:22:52.230 --> 00:22:53.970
that you need to go to sleep. That way you're
00:22:53.970 --> 00:22:56.049
not just laying there not able to go to sleep
00:22:56.049 --> 00:22:58.230
because you ruined it one or two days before
00:22:58.230 --> 00:23:00.089
that by throwing off the time and the cadence.
00:23:00.250 --> 00:23:02.789
If you're a caffeine drinker, 90 minutes. 60
00:23:02.789 --> 00:23:04.940
minutes if you have to. No earlier than that.
00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:06.680
Along those same lines, you also want to make
00:23:06.680 --> 00:23:08.640
sure you're not consuming caffeine too late in
00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:10.859
the day. Caffeine has a half -life of six hours.
00:23:10.940 --> 00:23:12.900
All that means is if you have 200 milligrams
00:23:12.900 --> 00:23:16.660
at noon at 6 p .m., you have 100 milligrams still
00:23:16.660 --> 00:23:18.880
floating around in there. So that can be no bueno.
00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:22.039
For me, I shoot for drinking my last serving
00:23:22.039 --> 00:23:24.740
of caffeine no later than two. If I can keep
00:23:24.740 --> 00:23:27.460
it at one to noon, that's really the sweet spot.
00:23:27.700 --> 00:23:30.319
So if you're drinking caffeine at dinner, it
00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:33.900
is definitely, definitely not ideal. swap it
00:23:33.900 --> 00:23:35.900
out for something that doesn't have caffeine,
00:23:36.039 --> 00:23:38.599
and just get all that in earlier in the day.
00:23:38.740 --> 00:23:40.579
And I know there's people who say, caffeine doesn't
00:23:40.579 --> 00:23:43.059
affect me. It does affect you. It affects the
00:23:43.059 --> 00:23:45.799
quality of your sleep, even if you can go out
00:23:45.799 --> 00:23:48.819
like a light. So if you can fall asleep instantly
00:23:48.819 --> 00:23:51.059
after drinking a full cup of coffee, awesome.
00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:53.940
But I guarantee you the research proves that
00:23:53.940 --> 00:23:56.359
the quality of sleep will be less. And again,
00:23:56.500 --> 00:23:58.700
if that means that you don't sleep as well, or
00:23:58.700 --> 00:24:00.960
maybe it keeps you out of certain stages of sleep,
00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:03.619
We already learned how that can be actually really
00:24:03.619 --> 00:24:05.920
detrimental to your health long -term. Why would
00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:08.339
you wanna do that? So just move that caffeine
00:24:08.339 --> 00:24:11.039
window, drink drinks that don't have that, and
00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:12.779
there are plenty to choose from, and that is
00:24:12.779 --> 00:24:15.980
a huge way that you can increase your sleep quality.
00:24:16.200 --> 00:24:18.579
The next quick, easy thing that you'll hear a
00:24:18.579 --> 00:24:20.420
lot of people talk about, the moment that you
00:24:20.420 --> 00:24:23.759
wake up, drink at least eight ounces of water,
00:24:23.799 --> 00:24:27.420
if not 12 to 18, if you can. This gets everything
00:24:27.420 --> 00:24:30.690
going and rehydrates you from the flu. fluid
00:24:30.690 --> 00:24:33.349
you lost while you were asleep. This is a huge,
00:24:33.430 --> 00:24:36.049
easy, easy thing that you can do and is something
00:24:36.049 --> 00:24:38.609
that I do within a couple minutes of waking up.
00:24:38.670 --> 00:24:40.990
And this just absolutely makes sense and is something
00:24:40.990 --> 00:24:43.250
that anybody and everybody can do. Another quick
00:24:43.250 --> 00:24:45.549
suggestion that the doctor gave in the episode
00:24:45.549 --> 00:24:49.549
was talking about a Napa latte. And I was like,
00:24:49.609 --> 00:24:52.589
I don't know what that means. And he said that
00:24:52.589 --> 00:24:55.950
because it takes between 20 to 30 minutes for
00:24:55.950 --> 00:24:58.650
caffeine to kick in, he says, I recommend that
00:24:58.650 --> 00:25:01.190
if you are planning to take a short power nap,
00:25:01.329 --> 00:25:04.549
20 to 30 minutes, drink a cup of black coffee
00:25:04.549 --> 00:25:07.410
or espresso, and then immediately take a 20 to
00:25:07.410 --> 00:25:09.630
30 minute nap. The reason why this is so effective
00:25:09.630 --> 00:25:13.289
is because of the chemical adenosine. So adenosine
00:25:13.289 --> 00:25:16.750
builds up as you get tired and caffeine blocks.
00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:19.940
the adenosine receptors from attaching which
00:25:19.940 --> 00:25:22.880
is what helps you feel that boost of energy so
00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:25.400
he's like when you actually take a nap you're
00:25:25.400 --> 00:25:27.619
reducing the amount of adenosine that you have
00:25:27.619 --> 00:25:30.400
and then when you drink caffeine you're blocking
00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:33.180
adenosine's ability to make you feel tired so
00:25:33.180 --> 00:25:34.799
he's like it's actually like a double whammy
00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:37.650
where if you can take that 20 minute nap you're
00:25:37.650 --> 00:25:40.369
reducing the overall count of adenosine that
00:25:40.369 --> 00:25:43.529
exists. And then when the caffeine kicks in right
00:25:43.529 --> 00:25:46.430
when you wake up, you feel even more energized
00:25:46.430 --> 00:25:49.589
because there's even less adenosine that the
00:25:49.589 --> 00:25:52.269
caffeine needs to block. So pretty cool one -two
00:25:52.269 --> 00:25:53.930
punch. I've never heard that before. I thought
00:25:53.930 --> 00:25:55.849
it was pretty interesting. So if you're a power
00:25:55.849 --> 00:25:59.230
nap person, I have never been, but I might give
00:25:59.230 --> 00:26:02.430
it a whirl on a Saturday or Sunday and see maybe
00:26:02.430 --> 00:26:05.210
if it'll help out. Now rapid firing some more
00:26:05.210 --> 00:26:07.710
tips and tricks that you can... do giving yourself
00:26:07.710 --> 00:26:10.990
an hour to power down. This is a huge thing.
00:26:11.069 --> 00:26:14.569
This is like the runway to land the plane. So
00:26:14.569 --> 00:26:18.069
if you can lower or dim the lights, disconnect
00:26:18.069 --> 00:26:21.529
from certain electronics or social media an hour
00:26:21.529 --> 00:26:25.109
before bed, this can be a massive way to get
00:26:25.109 --> 00:26:27.910
your body ready for sleep. You can do some light
00:26:27.910 --> 00:26:30.710
stretching or breath work. This is also a great
00:26:30.710 --> 00:26:33.869
time to do journaling, gratitudes, devotional
00:26:33.869 --> 00:26:36.859
meditation, things like that. help you wind down
00:26:36.859 --> 00:26:39.559
and get ready for bed. If you have no type of
00:26:39.559 --> 00:26:42.380
evening routine, this can be a massive way to
00:26:42.380 --> 00:26:44.599
help you go to sleep, especially if you're having
00:26:44.599 --> 00:26:47.720
symptoms of poor sleep or insomnia or can't fall
00:26:47.720 --> 00:26:50.319
asleep. Look at that wind down routine. Does
00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:52.819
it exist at all? If the answer is no, then you
00:26:52.819 --> 00:26:54.880
have some easy low -hanging fruit that you can
00:26:54.880 --> 00:26:57.079
take advantage of to really see if you can make
00:26:57.079 --> 00:26:59.440
that make an impact. Along those lines, you want
00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:02.779
to avoid food or heavy liquids three hours before
00:27:02.779 --> 00:27:05.259
bed. For me, sometimes this is a little tough
00:27:05.259 --> 00:27:07.339
because I've got like a two hour, two and a half
00:27:07.339 --> 00:27:09.559
hour window sometimes where that can be a little
00:27:09.559 --> 00:27:12.000
tricky. And then when it goes even farther, I
00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:14.680
definitely know that it affects my sleep. So
00:27:14.680 --> 00:27:17.059
if you can get that three hour window, it can
00:27:17.059 --> 00:27:19.619
make your sleep more effective. So if that's
00:27:19.619 --> 00:27:21.559
something that you're always butting up against,
00:27:21.700 --> 00:27:24.319
you may notice an improvement in sleep if you
00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:27.140
can just make it a little bit earlier. Next tip
00:27:27.140 --> 00:27:30.259
is sleeping a little cooler. Most of us know
00:27:30.259 --> 00:27:32.799
that there's a ton of research around when your
00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:35.920
body is cooler, fall asleep quicker and easier.
00:27:36.220 --> 00:27:39.039
So if there's ways that you can do that, adjust
00:27:39.039 --> 00:27:41.940
your bedding, maybe some fans, or maybe even
00:27:41.940 --> 00:27:44.599
cracking down your AC can be easy ways to do
00:27:44.599 --> 00:27:46.900
that. There are also devices that you can do.
00:27:46.960 --> 00:27:48.940
There's the bed jet. There's the eight sleep.
00:27:49.119 --> 00:27:51.400
I know we love our eight sleep. As far as wellness
00:27:51.400 --> 00:27:54.779
devices, it is definitely one that if it broke
00:27:54.779 --> 00:27:58.019
tonight, I would be buying one and paying accelerated
00:27:58.019 --> 00:28:00.519
shipping to get it here tomorrow. Like it is
00:28:00.519 --> 00:28:03.480
for me almost more important than the mattress
00:28:03.480 --> 00:28:06.339
we sleep on. And that's because I sleep way,
00:28:06.420 --> 00:28:09.680
way cooler as far as temperature goes on my side
00:28:09.680 --> 00:28:12.380
than Ashley. Now that's recently started to adjust
00:28:12.380 --> 00:28:15.089
like she talked about last week. But there's
00:28:15.089 --> 00:28:19.170
definitely a six to eight degree difference in
00:28:19.170 --> 00:28:22.609
our preferences as far as I like mine that much
00:28:22.609 --> 00:28:25.250
colder on my end and that helps me go to sleep.
00:28:25.309 --> 00:28:27.869
I don't wake up sweating anymore. Huge game changer.
00:28:28.029 --> 00:28:30.710
But keeping that room cool, especially before
00:28:30.710 --> 00:28:33.349
you go to bed in that first stage, helps you
00:28:33.349 --> 00:28:36.109
go to sleep so much better. Next tip is avoid
00:28:36.109 --> 00:28:38.730
getting into any arguments or deep conversations
00:28:38.730 --> 00:28:42.049
right before sleep. Gosh, this is so hard because
00:28:42.049 --> 00:28:44.430
that's maybe the only time that you've seen your
00:28:44.430 --> 00:28:46.569
spouse or your significant other in that time
00:28:46.569 --> 00:28:49.609
frame. It can have a massive impact on your sleep,
00:28:49.609 --> 00:28:53.109
however. So try to have those conversations around
00:28:53.109 --> 00:28:56.390
dinner time versus later in the evening. Because
00:28:56.390 --> 00:28:58.630
again, if that happens regularly, have a pretty
00:28:58.630 --> 00:29:01.450
massive effect on your sleep. Now, what if you're
00:29:01.450 --> 00:29:04.369
having trouble waking up and then staying awake?
00:29:04.609 --> 00:29:06.289
So there are a couple of things. We already talked
00:29:06.289 --> 00:29:09.269
about the couple techniques you can try to not
00:29:09.269 --> 00:29:11.049
have to go to the bathroom. bathroom, which again,
00:29:11.150 --> 00:29:13.849
for me, game changer, awesome. Another powerful
00:29:13.849 --> 00:29:17.569
one is don't look at the clock. This can cause
00:29:17.569 --> 00:29:20.069
a massive increase in anxiety and heart rate,
00:29:20.150 --> 00:29:23.269
which can keep you awake because your brain jumps
00:29:23.269 --> 00:29:25.549
to immediately doing the math on how much you
00:29:25.549 --> 00:29:27.109
have left and when your alarm is going to go
00:29:27.109 --> 00:29:29.750
off and then we've all been there, you can't
00:29:29.750 --> 00:29:32.490
go to sleep. I will tell you the curiosity bug
00:29:32.490 --> 00:29:35.710
is very, very aggressive in that moment. There
00:29:35.710 --> 00:29:37.150
have been times where I'm like, okay, I'm not
00:29:37.150 --> 00:29:41.619
going to look at it. And then I'm like, So if
00:29:41.619 --> 00:29:44.420
you can, avoid looking at that clock and just
00:29:44.420 --> 00:29:46.519
try to go back to sleep. Can't be worried about
00:29:46.519 --> 00:29:48.440
something you don't know. The next is breathing
00:29:48.440 --> 00:29:51.779
exercises. So breathing techniques geared to
00:29:51.779 --> 00:29:53.640
lowering your heart rate can help you go back
00:29:53.640 --> 00:29:55.640
to sleep, especially if a lot of it is heart
00:29:55.640 --> 00:29:58.559
rate related. So you can do box breathing, four
00:29:58.559 --> 00:30:00.740
by four by four by four. We've talked about that.
00:30:00.859 --> 00:30:03.980
In for four, hold for four, out for four, hold
00:30:03.980 --> 00:30:06.359
for four. You can also do four, seven, eight,
00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:08.420
which is what the doctor talked about. So in
00:30:08.420 --> 00:30:11.200
for four, hold for seven, which can be a little
00:30:11.200 --> 00:30:13.900
tricky, and then exhale for eight. So there's
00:30:13.900 --> 00:30:15.339
a couple things he talks about there. He's like,
00:30:15.400 --> 00:30:18.160
that's... kind of an odd pattern. It can be tough
00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:20.980
to do. And when you're so fixated on like counting
00:30:20.980 --> 00:30:22.960
and doing that, by the time you do it a couple
00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:25.240
times, you may already be out. And then another
00:30:25.240 --> 00:30:27.380
technique he talks about is counting backwards
00:30:27.380 --> 00:30:31.859
from 300 by threes. My wife's been trying this
00:30:31.859 --> 00:30:34.160
and she's like, I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty
00:30:34.160 --> 00:30:36.599
impressed with how that works. And so she's like,
00:30:36.680 --> 00:30:39.420
last night I got to 270 whatever. And I'm like,
00:30:39.480 --> 00:30:42.839
nice. So it's he's like, it's very boring, but
00:30:42.839 --> 00:30:46.039
you You have to focus so much on the counting
00:30:46.039 --> 00:30:48.859
to where it makes it tough to really overthink
00:30:48.859 --> 00:30:51.059
or think about anything else. So pretty neat.
00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:52.740
Give it a whirl. And then a common recommendation
00:30:52.740 --> 00:30:55.299
from sleep experts is if you just absolutely
00:30:55.299 --> 00:30:58.500
cannot go to sleep, get out of the bed. You don't
00:30:58.500 --> 00:31:01.519
want your body to associate anything with bed
00:31:01.519 --> 00:31:05.119
aside from sleep generally. And so if you can't
00:31:05.119 --> 00:31:08.259
go to sleep, get out of bed, go read on the couch
00:31:08.259 --> 00:31:10.319
or somewhere else, and then when you're feeling
00:31:10.319 --> 00:31:12.839
sleepy, go back to bed and see if you can do
00:31:12.839 --> 00:31:16.059
it. So don't doom scroll on your phone in bed.
00:31:16.339 --> 00:31:18.480
If you're going to do that, get out of bed. But
00:31:18.480 --> 00:31:20.799
reading is definitely more recommended because
00:31:20.799 --> 00:31:22.920
it's definitely more boring. It can help you
00:31:22.920 --> 00:31:24.460
have a fighting chance of getting back to sleep.
00:31:24.579 --> 00:31:28.299
The next thing is don't underestimate the amount
00:31:28.299 --> 00:31:30.980
of rest you can get when you're not asleep, which
00:31:30.980 --> 00:31:34.509
sounds dumb. right? But there are other types
00:31:34.509 --> 00:31:37.750
of what they call deep rest that you can get
00:31:37.750 --> 00:31:40.309
when you're not asleep. So if you have a fitness
00:31:40.309 --> 00:31:43.329
tracker or a sleep tracker, sometimes it'll tell
00:31:43.329 --> 00:31:45.789
you that you got actually great sleep and you're
00:31:45.789 --> 00:31:48.549
like, how I was awake. And so there are other
00:31:48.549 --> 00:31:51.430
types of rest that don't involve sleep. So in
00:31:51.430 --> 00:31:54.630
other words, if you sit there in a relaxed state,
00:31:54.710 --> 00:31:58.269
not anxious, not upset, not freaked out, but
00:31:58.269 --> 00:32:00.809
you're sitting there restfully laying with a
00:32:00.809 --> 00:32:03.450
low heart rate, breathing in a relaxed way, you're
00:32:03.450 --> 00:32:07.329
not freaking out, that's about 30 to 35 % as
00:32:07.329 --> 00:32:09.869
effective as sleep, which is something. So for
00:32:09.869 --> 00:32:12.210
every hour you lay there, you're getting about
00:32:12.210 --> 00:32:15.279
the equivalent of 20 minutes of sleep. So a night
00:32:15.279 --> 00:32:17.660
that you thought was Armageddon may not have
00:32:17.660 --> 00:32:21.579
been as bad. And so don't create a false self
00:32:21.579 --> 00:32:23.640
-fulfilling prophecy of like, well, I had crappy
00:32:23.640 --> 00:32:25.299
sleep, so my whole day is going to be ruined.
00:32:25.400 --> 00:32:28.019
Remember, expectation effect is powerful. So
00:32:28.019 --> 00:32:30.640
having that knowledge can sometimes really calm
00:32:30.640 --> 00:32:32.940
the anxiety of like, man, I'm not able to go
00:32:32.940 --> 00:32:35.240
to sleep. Well, then don't freak out. Just lay
00:32:35.240 --> 00:32:37.940
there, chill. There is quality rest that you
00:32:37.940 --> 00:32:41.420
can get out of deep. non -sleep rest. Now as
00:32:41.420 --> 00:32:43.759
promised I am going to cover a couple supplements
00:32:43.759 --> 00:32:46.539
but it is something that I believe there are
00:32:46.539 --> 00:32:48.559
so many other things that you can do before you
00:32:48.559 --> 00:32:51.119
do any sort of sleep supplementation. In fact
00:32:51.119 --> 00:32:54.400
Dr. Bruce talks about identifying your chronotype
00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:57.160
is something that he says is of high value. You
00:32:57.160 --> 00:32:59.579
can visit his website and take a test to identify
00:32:59.579 --> 00:33:02.079
what chronotype you are and that's a little bit
00:33:02.079 --> 00:33:04.700
more in depth of like the night owl versus the
00:33:04.700 --> 00:33:07.019
early bird and he says it can have a huge impact
00:33:07.019 --> 00:33:10.269
on how to time certain things. It's basically
00:33:10.269 --> 00:33:12.730
just a math equation to figure out what is more
00:33:12.730 --> 00:33:15.390
optimal for you as a person. So I'll link that
00:33:15.390 --> 00:33:17.789
in the description. You can take that. So maximize
00:33:17.789 --> 00:33:20.650
those habit and lifestyle choices first before
00:33:20.650 --> 00:33:22.789
just automatically going to supplementation to
00:33:22.789 --> 00:33:25.009
try to help you sleep. However, there are ones
00:33:25.009 --> 00:33:27.390
that I regularly take that I think are really
00:33:27.390 --> 00:33:30.890
effective. The biggest one is magnesium. Magnesium
00:33:30.890 --> 00:33:32.430
is something that can help your sleep quality
00:33:32.430 --> 00:33:35.529
and also can just be general benefits to health.
00:33:35.710 --> 00:33:38.690
Dr. Bruce did emphasize that for sleep, he recommends
00:33:38.690 --> 00:33:41.529
single ingredient sleep supplements. He's not
00:33:41.529 --> 00:33:45.390
a huge fan of these one size fits all or multi
00:33:45.390 --> 00:33:47.930
-ingredient sleep bundles. And I'm not either,
00:33:48.089 --> 00:33:51.269
I agree. So I take two types of magnesium, magnesium
00:33:51.269 --> 00:33:54.750
glycinate and magnesium threonate. Andrew Huberman's
00:33:54.750 --> 00:33:56.970
talked about threonate quite a bit. It passes
00:33:56.970 --> 00:33:59.369
the blood brain barrier and has a calming effect.
00:33:59.690 --> 00:34:02.049
I also take theanine, which is something that's
00:34:02.049 --> 00:34:05.009
in energy drinks to help calm people down and
00:34:05.009 --> 00:34:06.970
not have them be so jittery when they take an
00:34:06.970 --> 00:34:08.730
energy drink. And so that can have a calming
00:34:08.730 --> 00:34:11.409
effect on overthinking and those kinds of things,
00:34:11.510 --> 00:34:14.030
as well as apigenin, which is another one that
00:34:14.030 --> 00:34:17.170
can be helpful to potentially impacting your
00:34:17.170 --> 00:34:19.250
sleep in a beneficial way. And I agree with Dr.
00:34:19.409 --> 00:34:21.630
Bruce, not a huge fan of melatonin. I can't remember
00:34:21.630 --> 00:34:23.769
the last time I took it. I don't think it is
00:34:23.769 --> 00:34:26.909
an effective tool for sleep. In fact, he said
00:34:26.909 --> 00:34:29.670
the only beneficial use in... his opinion for
00:34:29.670 --> 00:34:33.070
melatonin is for jet lag or when you're off your
00:34:33.070 --> 00:34:35.889
sleep schedule drastically, you can use melatonin
00:34:35.889 --> 00:34:39.010
to kind of try to regulate your sleep again.
00:34:39.269 --> 00:34:42.550
But aside from that, it is not a great tool for
00:34:42.550 --> 00:34:44.610
the things that we talked about today. So what
00:34:44.610 --> 00:34:46.530
have we learned today? We learned a lot of myths
00:34:46.530 --> 00:34:48.829
that surround sleep. It is a mysterious thing.
00:34:48.969 --> 00:34:50.849
And when you're in the throes of trying to go
00:34:50.849 --> 00:34:53.469
to sleep and not being able to on a semi -regular
00:34:53.469 --> 00:34:56.530
basis, that frustration builds over time. And
00:34:56.530 --> 00:34:58.280
for me, the assumption that I could just catch
00:34:58.280 --> 00:35:00.699
up on my lost sleep that i was doing throughout
00:35:00.699 --> 00:35:02.940
the week with zero consequences is something
00:35:02.940 --> 00:35:04.940
that's challenged me recently so i wanted to
00:35:04.940 --> 00:35:07.139
share as well as some easy things that you can
00:35:07.139 --> 00:35:09.460
do that are free or close to it that you can
00:35:09.460 --> 00:35:12.780
do on a daily basis to just impact your health
00:35:12.780 --> 00:35:15.219
and sleep even better especially if it means
00:35:15.219 --> 00:35:17.039
you don't have to get up to pee every night so
00:35:17.039 --> 00:35:18.679
i'm telling you right now that one was a huge
00:35:18.679 --> 00:35:20.840
one for me so i genuinely hope this helps you
00:35:20.840 --> 00:35:23.159
get some better sleep and dispel some of the
00:35:23.159 --> 00:35:25.159
myths and rumors out there that you may have
00:35:25.159 --> 00:35:27.579
bought into about sleep so thanks for listening
00:35:27.579 --> 00:35:30.179
to the Optimizing Beyond podcast. Remember, growth
00:35:30.179 --> 00:35:33.420
happens when you take action. So subscribe, share
00:35:33.420 --> 00:35:35.599
this with a friend, and most importantly, put
00:35:35.599 --> 00:35:37.500
some of these things into practice. But until
00:35:37.500 --> 00:35:39.619
next time, keep moving forward because as we
00:35:39.619 --> 00:35:42.099
know, daily anything changes everything.