PETER SHANKMAN
| POSTED ON February 23rd, 2012 | 29 COMMENTS | + ADD YOUR COMMENT |
About a year ago, I wrote a blog post called “Why you need to get up earlier, and how to do it“. It became an instant popular post, with tons of linkage and referrals from people around the world who were all like “I’m going to get up earlier! This is what I’m going to do!”
WOOL you please go to sleep? Ha!
Cool. Glad it helped, and the basic rules in it still apply. (Use the bedroom for sleeping and sex only, drink a huge glass of water the second you wake up…) etc. Over the past year, however, I learned something really, really interesting, just from my own experience: The type of bed on which you sleep plays a huge part in how well you sleep.
Growing up, I never cared how I slept. As a college student and beyond, I slept on a crappy futon that over time got so bad, I could feel the bars of the frame through the mattress. Over time, as I got older, I treated myself to a memory-foam mattress, one of those that confirms to your body, and on which you can drop a dozen eggs and not break any of them, etc. It was super-cool, and I bought it because I finally had some money, and I was told it was the best.
Problem was, within a few years, my back started killing me. I figured it was due to workouts, being overweight, whatever. I never put two and two together, and never realized it could possibly be the bed, until I lost the weight, got married, and my wife told me in no uncertain terms that she hated my space-age bed.
At around the same time, Serta was kind enough to send me a new bed, after they found my blog post about sleep. I went to a Sleepy’s and tested out all the beds, and wound up with a Serta Perfect Sleeper. It’s not the hardest, firmest bed they make (I love hard/firm, don’t even make any jokes, thanks) but my wife loves soft and mushy. (again, no jokes.) So we wound up with a middle-ground. The nice thing about it, is that I get more sleep with it than I used to with my old mattress – And this isn’t a plug for Serta – It’s a plug for making sure you’re smart about your sleep. Here’s why:
- First thing I learned – The frame matters. If you have a crappy bed frame, the mattress sags. You don’t want that. Spend the money on a good, solid frame and box spring. It’s worth it.
- Second: Your firm/soft desire may vary, but if you weigh more than 10 pounds, firmer = better. There’s a reason countless cultures sleep on a tiny mat on the floor. I try and sleep on the floor at least twice a month. There’s something about the hardness of the floor that totally realigns my back. I’ve asked my chiropractor, and he agrees – It’s definitely beneficial to sleep on a hard surface. The only problem comes if you have any type of sleep apnea – Because you’re sleeping on your back when you’re on the floor, it could exacerbate it. Be careful.
- Third: If you happen to suspect you have sleep apnea, consider going in for a nighttime sleep study. I’m doing mine in two weeks. Basically, I’ll be wired to tubes and electrodes all night, and doctors will watch me to see if I stop breathing over the course of the evening, and how many times. Sadly, I’m afraid I already know the answer to this. :(
- Fourth: Pillows matter. I’ve always sleep on two pillows, but I’ve now trained myself to use one. I find that the less my neck bends, the better I sleep, and the better my back/neck/lower back feels the next morning. See if you can sleep with only one.
- Finally – And this one is important: I’ve stopped going to sleep on a full stomach. Your mileage may vary, but I find that if I give myself at least two hours between eating and sleeping, I sleep better, and wake up without any back pain or soreness. If I fall asleep immediately after eating, I wake up in the middle of the nit with a sore back, plus i feel totally bloated and blah. So I try to avoid that.
- Bonus tip one: More alcohol might cause you to pass out, but the sleep quality under alcohol actually sucks. Try not to drink so much before you go to bed.
- Bonus tip two: That whole “Sleep is for the weak” thing that became popular in the 80s and 90s (and that I subscribed to for a while, as well) is BS. Our bodies need sleep. Depriving them of it doesn’t help us in the long run, and some studies have shown that doing that makes us fatter, stupider, and less likely to succeed. So shut off the TV and try for your eight hours. It’s worth it.
What tips do you have for sleeping well? I’d love to hear them.
Disclosure statement: This blog was written by me with no editorial input from anyone else. Serta did send me a free mattress and box spring, but I wasn’t asked to write anything specific in exchange.
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Since having my son in October, I’ve found that he and I both sleep better if we take a warm bath about an hour before bed. The combination of the warmth, the steam and the scent of his lavender baby wash relaxes us and basically zonks us out. |
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Good luck with the sleep study. That was the worst night of my entire life. If anyone ever tries to get me to do that again, I’ll fight to the death before allowing it to happen. Felt like imprisonment and torture. I don’t have claustrophobia but I can now imagine what that must feel like. |
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Another tip: don’t fall asleep too early. If I conk out on the couch by accident before my bedtime, I end up waking up a lot and/ or being awake for 2-4 hours in the middle of the night. Not exactly fantastic for the workday energy levels, although I do get to listen to a lot of quality internation public radio broadcasts at 3 am. |
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Thanks for the words of wisdom Peter! I recently started a new and highly demanding job in PR and need to be extremely alert at all times during the work day, so my “beauty sleep” is very important. I will definitely take the good bed and pillow advice as this is something I will probably need to change in the near future. And sleep is for the strong and capable intellectual! |
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Great post, Peter. Here at LifeWaves, we’re all about recovery: recovery from exercise, recovery from stress, and of course, sleep. On top of designing exercise and lifestyle programs to maximize health, I’m also a graduate student in physiology writing a thesis on circadian rhythms and prostate cancer. Some of the best advice we’ve given is how you can better control your circadian rhythm – eating at the right time, don’t exercise or do super-stressful stuff after 7:00pm, and avoid bright lights at night (unfortunately, this includes back-lit screens like computers) by using blackout curtains or eye shades. The truth is, your circadian rhythm is something that you are always shaping, for better or worse, every day and every night. Having an unhealthy circadian rhythm is being tied to almost every ailment under the sun, but having a healthy one is being tied to all kinds of really great stuff like better productivity, memory, alertness, and tons of genuine biomarkers for health. You can learn more about shaping your circadian rhythm and being healthy over at our blog: http://www.lifewaves.com/wordpress Sign up and you’ll get 9 free health tips (come on, why not, they’re free, and we only send about 2 posts out per month). Stay awesome, |
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Interesting read, because I just switched beds myself but did the opposite from you – went from a Serta mattress to one of Tempur-Pedic’s new models. I had the Serta for about 5 years and felt like my back pain progressively got worse year-after-year of owning it. Switching to the Tempur-Pedic about 7 months ago, my back pain has almost completely vanished. I almost wonder if our bodies just need a change every-so-often; perhaps sleeping on the same surface too often or for too long is what puts extra wear-and-tear on our backs. Thousands of years ago, humans were nomads and rarely ever slept in the same place twice. Maybe that’s what our bodies were meant for… |
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Don’t force your sleep. Having a bedtime is great, but if you don’t fall asleep after 5 minutes get out of bed and go read or do something else. Watching TV and reading in bed is teaching your body this is not a place for sleep. Try to stay away from TV and computers though if you leave the bed. |
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Bought me a Tempurpedic pillow. The side model, which works for back sleepers too, IS AWESOME. Keeps my neck aligned all night. I was hesitant to spend the $100ish on a pillow, but man, once you add up how many hours of use it will get, you’ll buy two. |
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My tip: sleep number mattress. Works beautifully for husband and me. He needs different hardnesses based on his health condition. And even I find I adjust firmness based on varying factors. We also have something called a mattress genie which can elevate the head of the bed at will. I sleep like a baby and will never buy any other mattress but sleep number. I swear I’m not a rep for them or anything. I just really love the product and always recommend it when I can. Then, of course, the other sure fire way to guarantee a great night’s sleep: Ritz-Carlton. But that’s a whole different thing. |
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Great tips. As with everything, there’s good memory foam and bad memory foam, and something that’s too soft will really mess up your back. My bonus tips: 2. This is a bit of a no-brainer, but lay off the caffeine a few hours before going to bed. There are apps that track the effects of caffeine on your body over time, based on information you input. You can use one to learn when to stop caffeinating to make sure you can go to sleep on time. Also: I was intrigued by recent studies about segmented sleep – e.g. rather than sleeping for 8 hours straight, sleeping in two 4-hour segments, with a 1-2 hour period of wakefulness in between. One such article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02.....kirch.html |
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Hubby did a sleep study too. The photo of him wired up is pretty amusing but he thought it was a very interesting experience. He was hoping a new treatment – a kind of a mouthpiece (think those appliances you get if you grind your teeth at night) that helps with certain types of sleep apnea – would be something he could use but alas, he’s got to go the regular route. |
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My tips: Hilton Hotel Pillows, they will sell them to you. Read until you fade off. Sometimes it’s 10 minutes, sometimes it’s an hour. If you work out reguarly you will automatically wake up earlier than you normally would if you didn’t work out. |
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Mediation. I do a lying down mediation/self hypnosis as I’m falling asleep at night. I started doing this years ago when I wanted to quit smoking, but I found it helped relax me and deal with any anxieties I might have. So I kept at it. You start my tensing your whole body. And then let go. Then imagine relaxing each part of your body starting at your toes and working your way to your head. Finish with a lion’s roar and then relax all over. Finally, imagine walking down a mountain or a flight of stairs for the count of 10. Each step you take, you relax more and more. Then you kind of just sit in that state for a while and move yourself out of the meditation in the same way. 10 steps up until you’re out. Sometimes, I fall asleep before the end. All good. But if not, I’m ready to roll over and sleep after. |
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And if you have tried all of the above and you still can’t sleep — either you can’t fall asleep or you are waking up and can’t go back to sleep — consult a hypnotist. Frequently, insomniacs develop a pattern of bad sleep and a hypnotist can help you break that pattern. You wake up and then sit in the dark saying to yourself, “now I’ll never go back to sleep.” OR you are tossing and turning before you finally go sleep, “It always takes me 30 minutes to fall asleep.” |
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I worked for Sealy for four years, and became their sleep expert. Sleep is critical to many body functions!!!! You are actually sleeping for your brain, which kicks into high gear once you pass out for the night. Processing all of the things you experienced during the day, and I do mean EVERYTHING! It is all in your head! Without proper processing there isn’t enough space for the next day’s info…problem! And if you deprive your body of sleep for long enough you can fall asleep anywhere! Called sleep debt, and it is another bad form of debt!! LOL!!! As for beds, two pieces of advice: 1) Sealy Posturepedic beds contain a patented pressure management system that really works…I am a patent co-author, and no longer work for them. 2) Shop for your bed in a sleep shop or other store, but buy at a wholesale club! Their margins are small, and you get WAAAAY more bed for your money! |
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Good luck on the sleep study Peter! That would have been my advice as well, it’s worth it. I had spent most of my life not realizing how little actual sleep I was getting until I got my BiPap machine. If you’ve got apnea, you’ll feel a lot better after a few weeks on the machine.(But Donna’s right, the night of the study will probably suck) |
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I’ve found that my breathing is easier now that I’m using an air purifier in my bedroom, I’m less or not congested since using it and it’s made a world of difference |
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After a sleep study (I ‘m weird and actually enjoyed my “adventure”), I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. I was given a CPAP machine. One month later, I had lost 11 lbs without making any changes to diet nor exercise. Sleep is critical for weight loss/healthy weight maintenance. |
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I was just reading this when I came across your blog post. Fascinating. The myth of the eight-hour sleep |
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Thanks for such an enlightening post. I didn’t realize I was doing so many things wrong hence possibly preventing me from good sleep. I’m definitely trying all your suggestions. Eventually when I have the money I’ll get a new Serta. I have a pillow top right now which I’m sure is the cause of much! I am getting spinal disk fusion surgery in April due to herniated disks and degeneration so I’m hoping a combination of your tips, surgery and eventually a new mattress will help me in the long term. Thanks again! |
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Go to http://www.nih.gov and type sleep in the search box. You’ll find lots of information based on peer reviewed research on sleep. As a tax payer, you paid for the research, use it. |
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My dad’s quality of life improved immensely after he was diagnosed with sleep apnea, I hope the same happens for you! Also, I don’t know how much stock I put in this but I recently read an article (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16964783) that said up until the 1900s people would wake up in the middle of the night for about an hour or so, thus sleeping in two 4 hour chunks each night. Some scientists argue this is better and more natural, but I think we’re all so used to sleeping straight through it would be an odd thing to adjust to. |
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Good mattress, 1 or 2 drinks but no more (there’s a “sweet spot”), a white noise machine (for us it’s a child’s room humidifier without the water-20 bucks), relaxation thoughts, no caffeine after 1pm, Breath Right nose strips. |
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I found the temperature of the room also makes a huge difference. Opt for cooler (over warmer). If your head gets too hot (no jokes!), it can cause nightmares and restless sleep. Also, having enough room is important. People joke about a king-sized bed being the end of marriage. But, going from a queen to a king actually saved my marriage! |
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Peter – Good luck with your sleep study. I did one at the end of last year and found that I actually don’t have sleep apnea (as I suspected) but in fact severe periodic limb movements which were causing my sleep to be severely disrupted. I’ve adjusted some exercise habits and refined some of my “sleep hygiene” and along with (a very mild new medication) I’m sleeping the best I have in my entire life. I whole-heartedly agree that getting your sleep checked out is the way to go if you are still having trouble. |
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Exercising everyday after a long day @ work makes you sleep like a baby. Don’t need no muss no fuss, you are tired, in shape, and feel great the next morning! |
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Hi Peter, so you recommend against exhausting yourself so you fall instantly asleep? ;-) My method of sleep management sucks so I’ve been using a myzeos tracker to gauge the quality of the sleep I am getting—the restorative nature of it, how often I wake up, etc. Oddly enough, comfort of PJs makes a difference in quality of sleep for me, and if the room is cool enough. If I forget to turn down the heat I sleep poorly. I agree with making sure your bedroom is an inviting place to be at night, eg. bed is made, everything is orderly. I also have a little ritual of reciting a scripture about sleep that helps me focus and let go of anything troubling on my mind. |
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Thanks for your tips guys! I can say warm milk is what helps me to fall asleep and a shower of course. It makes me relax |
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Having read you first post way back when about getting up early, which I shared with my 4200 FB friends, I also discovered that my bed impacted on my sleep, hence I got a Tempur bed and since it came, not cheaply here in Romania, my husband and I have slept so much better. Thanks Peter for making me think. |
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