Get to Bed!
Get to Bed!
Rest is mega important if you want to thrive in midlife
At the expense of me sounding even more dull than Liz Truss, and that's a pretty low bar, if you want to make fitness progress you have to be consistent and, seriously, get yourself to bed at a decent time. No, I don't mean 1am!
What time do you go to bed? If it's even occasionally past 10.30 you need to have a word with yourself. You're not prioritising your rest and recovery and it'll show up one way or another somewhere else in your life.
Chronic poor sleep is what we're talking about here. If you're waking up feeling fresh as a daisy, keep doing what you're doing. If not, and you feel like you've been run over by the number 73, then think on.
A good night's sleep is the cornerstone of peri and post menopausal wellbeing and fitness. If you want to thrive and feel good about life you need to embrace rest and recovery. I hate to break it to you, but you ain't 20 something anymore.
Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is produced in deep sleep. It helps with fat burning and stimulates tissue growth. So if you're training hard to build muscle and you want to keep a check on body fat you need this stuff. If you get less than 7-9 hours sleep your HGH production stalls, especially if you go to bed late. HGH production happens between 11 and 1 then tails off. Of course estrogen has to stick her nose in. It helps increase HGH so if you're in peri/post menopause you won't have as much to go round. Make the most of what you've got and don't miss that window of opportunity.
Too little sleep is also stressful. Cortisol stays elevated deep into the evening hours, especially in peri/post menopause. It declines 6 times more slowly in those short on sleep. This wrecks your mood and recovery. It impairs tissue repair and growth and sets the scene for abdominal fat storage, insulin resistance, injury and over training.
If you're knackered you will tend to overeat. Ghrelin increases (appetite stimulator) and leptin decreases (appetite suppressant) with too little sleep.
You don't re-stock glycogen stores properly - carbs stored in the muscles as energy.
Even one night of bobbins sleep can reduce your insulin sensitivity, one study showed by 33%.
Hard training demand lots of ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) which is the energy you use in everyday life and when you're working out. A workout leaves adenosine behind as a by-product and it starts to build up. You only clear it out when you sleep. The brain fires up the clean up crew. Once it's cleaned up all the old adenosine then it can re-stock it's own glycogen supply.
You can't perform at your best when you're tired so your workout isn't on point.
Booze keeps your heart rate high when you go to bed. It also means you get less REM sleep - the deep, restful sleep. Less booze can mean less hot flashes too.
Peri and post menopause can be a minefield when trying to get to sleep
Disrupted sleep is a killer. Progesterone helps control stress and has a sedative effect. Estrogen increases REM sleep, helps you to fall asleep, affects how many times you wake in the night, increases the quality of sleep and regulates cortisol. So, you can see when it starts to fluctuate it's a bitch for your sleep quality.
Less melatonin is produced in peri/post.
61% of post menopausal women struggle with some form of insomnia
What can you do?
Basics...
Get off the booze close to bedtime - have it with dinner if you have to
Stop eating 2 hours before bedtime so you're not digesting instead of sleeping
Off your phone 30 minutes before bed
Read a book
Cool room, 16 degrees
Bamboo pj's
Cooling sheets
A cold shower (never floated by boat but it works)
Blackout curtains
White noise machine
Ear plugs
Sleep mask
Bedside pad and pen
Stop exercising an hour before bed
No coffee after 2pm
Manage stress - deep breathing exercises 4 in, hold for 1, out for 4. Do some gentle yoga, lie down and do a yoga-style body rotation
A glass of cold tart cherry juice (Montmarency cherries). It naturally increases melatonin
A spare bedroom or a divorce
Other than that, if you can or want to, consider HRT.
You can look at tablets and what-not in Holland & Barrett but how much use they are I'd raise an eyebrow at. Plus they're not cheap. They made sod all difference to me. I went for the drugs in the end. Never looked back.