Sleep more, live better.

March 27, 2014

Have you ever realized that we spend a third of our life sleeping? That's roughly 26 years of time.

Sleep isn't a waste of time, as many might think. It's necessary for your body and your mind to freshen up before each new set of daily activities.

But you only freshen up if you sleep long enough. Here's why.

It's recommended to sleep between 6 and 8 hours per a night, with a minimum of 4 hours.

A normal night contains 4 to 6 sleep cycles, each one lasting between 90 and 110 minutes.

A sleep cycle is divided into 5 stages:

1. Awakening (it can happen a few times over night)
2. 3 non-REM stages (including deep and slow-wave sleep)
3. A REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stage

Your body refreshes itself during the 3 non-REM stages.

Your brain mostly refreshes during the REM stage, notably helping you memorize everything you've learned that day.

So the more you sleep, the more you refresh your body and your brain.

If you don't sleep enough, your body will be able to catch up on its rest the following night, but your brain will not be able to catch up 100% of the lost rest.

Be aware that there are greater dangers to lack of sleep: risk of heart disease, risk of Type 2 Diabetes, risk of obesity, impaired immune system, just to name a few.

So do yourself a favor, sleep more and you'll live better! It's that simple.

 A few tips to sleep better

1. Stick to the same sleep pattern (bedtime, sleep time, wake up time)
2. Try to make your sleep time match 4-6 sleep cycles of 90 minutes
3. This one is pretty obvious; don't drink or eat any caffeine (coffee, soft drinks, chocolate) at least a few hours before going to bed
4. Stretch before going to bed, this will relax your body
5. Try to avoid napping more than 30mn during the day
6. Sleep in a comfortable environment (no noise, no light, no electronics)

Sleep tight!

Joëlle, Hexoskin's sleep expert

Tip : Some of our proud Hexoskin power users opt to have an extra smart shirt to monitor their sleep efficiency. This way they have one for training and one for sleep that they don't have to wash as much.