Wellness Check: Sleep 1

It pains me that most of us are running around on not enough sleep.  Sure, we’ve all had to pull the occasional all-nighter for school or work, and we’ve all also had times when we were having so much fun that sleep seemed irrelevant.  Many of us have dealt with the sleep deprivation that comes with a new baby, or even, sometimes a new puppy.  All that stuff is part of life.

The sleep deficits I’m talking about are the ones we develop as a result of the increasing cultural pressure to do more, faster, and all the time.  Our work creeps into our “off” time.  Our off time is full of activities for ourselves and our kids.  Then there’s the housework and the yardwork and the volunteering in our communities and oh, yeah, we’re supposed to keep up on current events and the world needs saving and what the heck am I making for dinner?  Sleep starts to seem like a luxury.  That is not ok.

 

First of all, let me remind everyone, again, that they are beloved children of God, or valuable humans, or essential to the world, however you best hear it, just by existing.  You are enough, without doing anything.  I start from the premise that everyone deserves to be healthy and happy.  Sleep is part of that.

 

While we sleep, our brains and bodies take out the trash.  Memories consolidate.  Muscles repair themselves.  We can’t possibly be really healthy without enough sleep.

 

Still not convinced?  Fine.  We are less productive when we are overtired.  (I hate that we hyperfocus on production, but if that’s the lever I need to push to get folks to rest, I’ll do it!)  Tired people have accidents, make mistakes, and take longer to complete tasks.  Plus they tend to be crabby.

 

Maybe we started the year with some good intentions around getting enough sleep and as time went on, we got distracted.  Now is a great time to get back on track.  Tomorrow I’ll talk about what that might look like and how we might get there.

Monday Workout: As Heavy As

Choose weights this week that are heavy enough that it is a challenge to finish each set.  Three rounds.

 

1 arm clean and press	30
rows	20
kickbacks	10
db kicks	30
flies	20
overhead press	10
tap backs	30
curls	20
brains	10

 

Wellness Check: 5

More ways to encourage recovery and regeneration!

 

1.     Corrective and low-intensity movement:  Think yoga, Pilates, stretching.

2.     Breathing:  deep breathing stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, cuing our bodies to rest and recover.

3.     Massage, foam rolling, percussion:  feels good and is good!

4.     Epsom salt baths.

5.     Fun.

Wellness Check: Recovery and Regeneration 2

I hope that yesterday I convinced everyone that recovery and regeneration are important.  As we check in here in the middle of the year, we might notice that rest has not been as plentiful as we would have liked, or that we are more sore than would be ideal, or that we find ourselves catching every bug that goes around.  Those are all good signs that moving recovery up the priority list might be an idea to consider.

The top three techniques for recovery are things we pretty much have to do anyway.  The key is to do them to the right extent and to the right standard.

 

Number one is our sleep.  I’ll be focusing in on this particular modality all week next week, but let’s start with one idea:  get seven hours.  (We can argue about why that’s not possible in the future, but for now, just try it.)

 

The second top technique for recovery is nutrition.  I’ll spend the week after next unpacking this one in more detail, too, because there’s lots to think about, but for now, I just need to remind everyone (even me) that running on sugar and caffeine is not a sustainable practice.  Eat a vegetable every once in a while, at least!

 

The third top technique is hydration.  All liquids count toward our total hydration, but our best choice, most of the time, is water.  Aim for half your body weight in ounces per day (e.g., if you weigh 3,000 pounds, you want to drink 1,500 ounces of water; I chose a ridiculous quantity because some of us fixate way too much on scale numbers.)  (If you do, in fact, weight 3,000 pounds, please do not be offended.  I am impressed that your walrus self has learned to read!)  If that sounds like too much math, try to drink enough that you need to use the bathroom every hour or so.

 

Good news, right?  We have to sleep and eat and drink just to keep existing.  We’re already doing an adequate job because here we are, still breathing!  And just a few little tweaks can make us feel even better.

 

Need help?  I’m a wellness coach, you know.  I can help you set achievable goals in every area of wellness.

Wellness Check: Recovery and Regeneration 1

Once we get back into our movement and/or exercise routines, we discover (or rediscover) that recovery and regeneration are important.  There is a current in gym culture that I deeply object to and it is the “no pain, no gain” and related stuff.  Yes, we sometimes have to get uncomfortable to make progress, but if we are in pain, something is actually wrong.

Further, without recovery, we don’t make gains.  Our muscles get stronger not while we are working, but when we are done, when we rest and the microdamage we have caused repairs itself, only better.

 

Recovery and regeneration are not intuitive in our wider culture either.  We hear a lot about hustling and we glamorize being so busy that we don’t have time to sleep or eat.  Excuse me, but no.

 

Tired and sore people are usually not happy people.  (I say usually because there are certainly times, like after a really intense workout, where we are happy because we’ve done more than we ever thought we could, or broke a personal record, or are bathing in endorphins.)  When we chronically deprive ourselves of recovery and regeneration, we are depriving ourselves, not only of our best performance, but of our best existence.  (This is the part where I insist that you are valuable and wonderful and need to be in the world even if you don’t do anything.  You are not your performance, no matter what your boss or your family or ads tell you.)

 

So:  How is recovery going for you?  (Tomorrow I’m going to talk about things you might do to recover, in case you need ideas to reboot.)

Monday Workout: Multiple

We’re moving in multiple directions this week.  We’ve got some lateral motion, some transverse motion, and our usual straight on.  Plus some dedicated balance work.  Three rounds.

 

woodchoppers	30
renegade rows	20
YTA	10
squat to leg lift/ticktock	30
skullcrushers	20
lateral raise	10
(lunge) punches	30
1 leg db pass	20
pretty princesses	10

 

Wellness Check: 4

Sometimes we need a little nudge to get moving.  Here are some possible “rules” to help us out:

 

1.     Microwave time is stretching time.

2.     The pause between episodes is lap-around-the-house time.  (Bonus points:  change the laundry!)

3.     Take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator.

4.     On the phone?  Talk and walk.