So On October 26th I had the pleasure of attending a seminar on sleep. The man presenting the seminar was called Nick Littlehales who has been studying the subject in depth for over 30 years! He has worked with a treble winning Man Utd team, Arsenal, British Cycling, Team Sky, England Rugby and the 2016/2020 Olympic team.

Sleep is one of those big subjects that we know we should practice more in real life, but there are so many theories about what works and what doesn't.

Here are my bullet pointed takeaways from the seminar.

Waking up for pee affects sleep and can be sleep disorder
Sleep measurement tools are actually inaccurate. Need to measure from prefrontal cortex of brain for accuracy
Caffeine- 400-500mg daily is performance enhancer but effects sleep. Most people do 1500mg a day without realizing it
Keep away from sleeping tablets
Swedish tobacco bags causes nicotine hit
We work in cycles of 90 minutes. 5 cycles of 90 minutes are 7.5 hours
Post-sleep routine is very important. Needs to be slow and steady.
Avoid phones last thing at night and first thing in the morning.
Exercising at night will affect sleeping negatively. Avoid if possible
Chronotypes- AMers and PMers. Spot the difference and understand the benefits of each
Most important thing you can do is identify which one you are. Your brain loves your sleep point and waking point. Good for mood and productivity.
Don't worry about sleep. You will have good and bad nights. It's about consistent recovery
Pick a sleep cycle time. If you can't sleep, stay up, do something productive and sleep at the next cycle
Sleep in a cool room sets a trigger in the brain that it's time to sleep
60% quality improvement in sleep from de-cluttering your room. If you do a little declutter before bed it helps you relax
Tech down- turn it all off
Women get lighter sleep due to a nurturing instinct waiting for cry of child, sounds of intruders, safety etc
R90 meso mattress
When sleeping sleep on left side with bent knee so right hand (dominant for me) on top to relax fully. Primal protective position that helps you relax
Lie in a fetal position for best comfort.
Use a mattress that adapted to your body shape. Your mattress should feel like a pair of trainers
HEPA air filters, Lumie lamp (Dawn Wake Simulator)
Tart Cherries great for recovery and melatonin. Great for sleep
Organic Banana, boil the banana. The skin has more potassium. Great for sleep/ recovery
Learn how to breathe- through the nose- parasympathetic nervous system response. Additional 40% increase in oxygen from breathing through the nose. Rhinomed to help nose breathing
Book- The Oxygen advantage
Rhinomed to help nose breathing
Travel fatigue- The human charger.com. Daylight through the ear canal
Should you share the bed with someone- NO. Too disruptive and double beds are too small for 2 people. Scandinavians have the right idea by having big beds with two individual covers so partners disrupt each other less during the night.
Poor sleep- sleeping pills you eventually become a shadow of yourself and not the person you could be. E.g. Antihistamine
White noise is best for napping
The color pink brings the heart rate down. If you wear this color clothing whilst climbing Everest you will sleep better.

Yours in health

Patrick Fallis

PS If you are interested in any seminars like this check out the How to Academy

Founder of Leaner
www.leaner-uk.com