Sleep Cycles With Tempur® (AD)

When it comes to both physical and mental health, sleep plays a huge role.  During sleep your body recovers and repairs muscles stressed during your day’s activities and training.  Effective training requires energy and lack of sleep also results in lower energy levels.

I try to ensure I get 8 hours sleep per night.  I know how my body works and its response to lack of sleep.  Lower levels of sleep not only affect my energy but also my motivation, which in turn impacts my training. 

TEMPUR® and Drops Le Col

TEMPUR® ‘strive to create products that consistently provide deeply refreshing, restorative sleep’ and announced their partnership with Drops Le Col women’s cycling team earlier in 2021.  In the press release from TEMPUR® they referenced the partnership as ‘a sign of their continuing commitment to helping athletes perform at the highest level’.

Drops Le Col are a UK-based UCI Women’s Cycling team.  They follow a wellness programme with their athletes that includes working with the riders in relation to their menstrual cycle, mental health, and sleep.  Every athlete receives mattresses and pillows from TEMPUR® (the only products of their kind on the market whose mattress materials are recognised by NASA), to assist with getting the best out of their sleep and help with their training.

What Are Sleep Cycles?

According to the NHS the two main types of sleep are Rapid Eye Movement (REM) and Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM).  The sleep cycle the human body follows is broken down to the following stages as below (although not always in this order):

• Very light sleep, can be woken easily as your body relaxes for the transition to sleep
• Sleep where we see a drop in body temperature and heart rate as we enter deeper sleep stage
• Deeper sleep where muscles relax, blood pressure and breathing rate drop, where you are generally more difficult to wake
• Even deeper than the stage above where the magic happens, and the body gets most benefit from rest and recovery
• REM stage where the brain is most active, body is relaxed and there is an increase once again in heart rate and blood pressure

Sleep Tracking

This is where you can really benefit from sleep cycles.  I have found to function best, I follow a routine where I go to sleep at a time that enables me to wake earlier in the morning, still ensuring I get around 8 hours sleep, and find this works best for me. 

My main form of fitness is cycling, including events as well as commuting and many training sessions/rides, most of which I complete before work in the early morning. 

I like my sleep and I know I need it – honestly when people say they get a mere few hours per night I know personally I would not function that well at all with the same, however, I know I am lucky that I do not have sleep issues, which is not true for many.

I wear a smart watch that records my sleep time including a breakdown of:

• total sleep time
• deep sleep
• light sleep
• REM
• awake

I also keep a log of my training and I can refer to each if I have a good or bad session so whilst it is not an exact science for me, I can refer to this and make the connection in some instances where things have gone well or not so well.

Personal Experience

I found out earlier this year that I am going through perimenopause.  This can affect sleep hugely as you are transitioning to the menopause and gradually stop producing progesterone.  This hormone assists with sleep, and I find a regular sleep cycle really helps both with my training and how I feel in myself.  According to The Sleep Council, part of The Sleep Charity, 40% of people suffer from sleep issues, which is a staggering statistic.  In addition to this over 70% of people get less than seven hours per night, the minimum of the range advised by the NHS.  They also provide seven steps with advice on sleep, one of which is your bed, which demonstrates how the athletes from Drops Le Col will benefit from the TEMPUR® partnership providing them with the best kit both on and off the bike.

MentalHealth.org published a paper regarding sleep and the benefits to mental wellbeing.  In this paper they reference sleep and not just the importance of the amount of sleep but also the pattern of sleep.  This evolves from child to adult and moves from sporadic sleep patterns throughout the day to one phase throughout the night respectively.  One of the key points of the paper is that ‘the consequences of poor sleep should be taken seriously in healthcare, education, family life, and society at large’.

Other Areas for Consideration

There are many other things you can do to help with sleep and here are some things I find help me:

• comfortable pillow, mattress, and bedding – the saying that there is nothing like being in your own bed is often very true – I have been using the comfort pillow and I described it to my husband like sleeping on clouds, so comfortable it is like a hug for your head and he used also and got the best nights sleep, which is rare for him
• allow time to unwind before I go to bed, which includes less screen time before bed – I am sure we are all guilty of getting in bed because we are tired and then sitting on phones checking social media – I purposely have no TV in my bedroom also
• hot bath/shower for me is always relaxing (not just before bed either!) although not a hot bedroom for me – I am a windows open in the bedroom girl
• sleep masks often help especially during summer months with lighter evenings and mornings
• I am an early bird so tend to have a routine where I am in bed by 10pm if not earlier (I know most people will gasp at this time being too early) but this is because I regularly wake at 6am to exercise in the morning.  It is also surprising how your body will get used to the routine very quickly.

I look forward to seeing the ladies from the Drops Le Col team at the Women’s Tour later this year.

This post is in conjunction with TEMPUR® but all thoughts are my own.