[Newsletter] The Smartest Coach in the Room

The restorative benefit of a good night’s sleep Every Saturday, The Smartest Coach in the Room delivers helpful takeaways on the hottest nutrition and health topics and the world’s most effective coaching techniques. (Did some amazing friend forward this to you? [Subscribe here]( How to Make Your Whole Life Better “You’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep.” That’s what you tell a friend after a breakup. (Right after you say: “I never liked that loser anyway.”) But it’s also what many clients need to hear. That’s because the restorative benefit of a good night’s sleep does indeed make you feel better. In fact, it helps you: - Make better food choices - Have more physical and mental energy for exercise and work - More effectively manage your stress and emotions (Just for starters.) And in turn, each of those factors can contribute to better sleep. So instead of a vicious cycle that makes progress harder, adequate shuteye sparks a virtuous cycle that makes progress easier (and life, in general, better). There’s a big problem, though. Many folks will tell you they struggle with sleep. They say they’re always tired no matter what they do. Plus, they’ve tried everything—gravity blankets, sleep trackers, supplements—and nothing helps. (“NOTHING!”) So we asked Jennifer Martin, PhD, a professor of medicine at UCLA and one of the world’s foremost authorities on sleep, “What would you suggest?” The short answer: A smarter sleep schedule. One that matches both your lifestyle and your biological requirements for sleep. The first step: Figure out how many hours you (or your clients) personally need. “Consider the routine you tend to settle into after a few days of vacation,” says Dr. Martin. “How many hours do you usually get when you don’t bother to set an alarm clock—and when you wake feeling rested? That’s the number of hours you’ll want to shoot for every night.” Now count backward from the time you want to wake up. That’s your bedtime, and yes, it’s THAT simple (to calculate). Only for many people, this comes with tradeoffs they don’t like—such as going to bed earlier and not sleeping in so much on the weekends. So what do you do? Check out Dr. Martin’s article: [Transform Your Sleep: A 14-Day Plan for a Better Night’s Rest.]( 10-Second Takeaways - After a good night’s sleep, most adults need to be awake around 16 hours before they feel sleepy. - If you sleep-in until 10 am on Sunday morning, and try to go to bed at 10 pm on Sunday night, you’ll likely struggle to fall asleep. (Because you haven’t been awake 16 hours.) - Unless it’s purposely built into your sleep routine, most people are better off avoiding naps as they’ll make it harder to fall asleep—or stay asleep—later that night. - One hour before bed, avoid activities that get you “amped up.” (It’s a bad time to pay bills and doom scroll.) - Create a sleep schedule you can stick to 6 out of 7 nights a week. (On a scale of 0 (no way!) to 10 (too easy), rank your confidence you’ll follow through—and only proceed when you get to a 9 or 10.) Want to learn more about nutrition science and how to use it to help people make healthy eating and lifestyle changes? Check out our [Level 1 Nutrition Coaching Certification](. It combines the science of nutrition with the art of coaching so you can help anyone make evidenced-informed decisions and achieve their most important health and fitness goals. [Become a Certified Nutrition Coach - Join the presale list for the #1 rated PN Level 1 Nutrition Certification]( Until next time, Adam --------------------------------------------------------------- Adam Campbell, MS, CSCS, PN2 Editor-in-Chief at PN (Home of the World’s Top Nutrition Coaches) --------------------------------------------------------------- What did you think of this email? Precision Nutrition Business Insider's #1 Choice for Nutrition Certifications in 2022 --- To view this email as a web page, click [here.]( Precision Nutrition Inc. 1 Yonge Street, Suite 1801 Toronto, ON, M5E 1W7, Canada Finally, nutrition makes sense. Visit us at [www.precisionnutrition.com]( today. Follow us on [Unsubscribe or Manage Preferences](