👋 Hey. Welcome to issue #113 of The Everyday Athlete Newsletter.
Here are my 3 favourite ideas, learns and resources to help you improve your performance this week (4 min read):
🛌 The jackhammer for chronic insomnia
Insomnia is a form of torture.
And it's all too common.
I've found mild cases are usually helped by:
- 🚂 Tech-free breaks to "slow the steam train" (see newsletter #87) throughout the day
And some combination of the following science-based tools before bed:
- 😮💨 Down-regulation breathing
- 🧘 Yoga nidra
- ✏️ Stream-of-consciousness journaling
- ✅ Writing to-do lists
- 📕 Reading fiction
- 🚿 Hot bath/shower
- 📱 Limiting screen time
- ⏰ Consistent bedtime
But sometimes, there's no amount of little tools like that to help a chronic insomniac.
And in those cases, we might need to put away the chisel and get out the jackhammer...
Matthew Walker is a neuroscientist and sleep wizard (author of Why We Sleep).
And for certain cases of chronic insomnia, he recommends — the counterintuitive — sleep restriction therapy.
Which essentially means deliberately reducing time spent in bed in the short term.
To increase time spent asleep and sleep quality over time.
By doing so, the brain is encouraged to squeeze sleep into a more efficient pattern.
Here's how the experts recommend doing it:
- ✏️ Note your current sleep efficiency: Track your current sleep to see how much time you spend in bed vs how much of that time is spent sleeping. The SleepCycle app would be useful here. E.g. you're in bed for 7 hours but only sleep for 4.
- ⏰ Set new sleep/wake times to match current sleep duration: If you're only sleeping 4 hours, that's your new sleep window. Keep your usual wake time. Delay bedtime. E.g. If your alarm is for 6am, your new bedtime is 2am.
- 🔍 Monitor and adjust: As your sleep efficiency improves, gradually increase your bedtime by 15-30 minutes. It may take time, but keep adjusting until you're sleeping for at least 7 hours.
Walker recommends doing it under the supervision of a pro (especially if your work involves operating heavy machinery or driving, as you'll be pretty cooked in the first few days).
Counterintuitive. But effective.
P.s. Fun fact: new zealanders have the highest % of insomniacs in the world. Research suggests it's because counting sheep excites them.
🧑🍳 Dan Churchill recipes
Dan Churchill is an Aussie chef and author who also happens to run 100-milers in his spare time.
I love his philosophy on nutrition: eating healthy doesn't mean boring.
And it also doesn't mean feeling hungry.
His website has dozens of free whole foods recipes.
They're all pretty quick and easy. Using ingredients you've probably already got in the fridge and cupboard.
I did this Korean turkey bowl the other night with chicken and it was elite.
Check em out here.
🏋️ Chase the hard reps
Effectively and efficiently building muscle in the gym requires adhering to a few key principles.
And there's one in particular that I've recently noticed is commonly missed...
Intensity.
I'm sorry, yes, I'm here to attack your going through the motions at the gym life.
See, muscle growth requires muscle stimulation.
Which happens when we go "close to failure".
- 🪫 "Failure" is simply the point where we cannot do another rep
- 🎯 "Close" is 1-3 reps, according to the science
Which means for a set to be effective, we need to be 1-3 reps shy of the point we can't do another successful rep.
E.g. I can do 10 reps at this weight (if there was a gun to my head, I couldn't do 11). So an effective set is doing 7-9 reps.
Why not go to failure?
We don't really need to.
We get the same muscle stimulation going 1-3 shy. And don't cook ourselves as much as going to failure.
We might occasionally. To see where failure is. So we know where that 1-3 range is (particularly for people starting out).
But the case is often the opposite – too light a weight or too few reps where we finish 3+ shy of failure.
Chase those hard reps.
That's it!
Have a great weekend 🤙
Matt
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The Everyday Athlete Newsletter is not a licensed health service nor a substitute for professional health advice, treatment or assessment. The information shared in this email is general and written for a specific audience. If you’re struggling, please see a healthcare professional.
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