By now you have noticed that the first question that you get from me every day is about your sleep. Why? Because it matters…it matters a lot.

To function at your best, your body and brain need 7-8 hours of sleep each night. No, you can’t binge-sleep and catch up from time to time! Get 7-8 hours each night.

According to a Harvard Nurses’ Health Study, women who slept five hours or less a night were a third more likely to gain 33 pounds or more over 16 years than women who slept seven hours. AND getting less than six hours is associated with the same problems as sleeping too long (more than 8 hours): a higher risk of heart problems and death.

Here are some of the excellent things that occur when you get enough sleep:

• During sleep you lay down long-term memories and practice new skills/movements that you picked up during your day…like a new kind of Plank. The process is known as Consolidation. This is why your workouts are easier the second time through.
• You will experience reduced Inflammation. Inflammation is linked to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, and premature aging. Research indicates that people who get less sleep…six or fewer hours a night…have higher blood levels of inflammatory proteins than those who get more.
• Researchers at the University of Chicago found that dieters who were well rested lost more fat than the sleep-deprived dieters. Dieters in the study also felt more hungry when they got less sleep.

One easy way to get to sleep faster is to PUT YOUR PHONE AWAY! Put that bright screen away at least an hour before bedtime. That BRIGHT light disrupts your sleep cycle by tricking your body into thinking that it’s the middle of the day.

Sleep right, train right, FEEL RIGHT!