Let’s talk about something that plays a very important role in our body’s development. Sleep. We all need it and personally, if I don’t get enough, I’m sluggish, not as alert and generally, not a nice person to be around.

Pre-kids, we would go to bed late and get up late. I can remember when my brother rang the doorbell at 11am and we were still in bed. They’d been shopping already! We were still in our pjs when they were feeding my nephew his lunch, haha. It’s funny how routines change and I’m using this story as an example of how my own routine has developed over the years.

When you have a baby, you may as well throw your sleeping pattern out the window. You can’t prepare yourself for what you’re about to endure. We went from 11 hours sleep to around three. I was all three of those things I mentioned in my opening paragraph. These days, I get around seven hours sleep each day. My days are busy so as soon as my head hits the pillow, I’m usually out for the count.

Sleep is the foundation to any healthy lifestyle. Sleep repairs the muscles and promotes muscle growth, whilst also enabling the body to rest and recover. I wanted to know what sleeping patterns professional athletes have so I reached out to my friend Wayne Leal. He is a highly respected trainer and founder of JumpGa. He said, “Most people need at least six hours of sleep a night to function. The boxers and footballers that I have worked with are pretty much the same, the only difference being that after their morning training sessions they take a one-hour nap. Eat, then they’re back in the gym for their afternoon session.”

As the video above illustrates, consider how exercise and nutrition plays a part in your own routine. Walking just one mile a day can help you sleep more soundly and help you fall asleep faster. Research also suggests that sleep plays an important role in memory, both before and after learning a new task.

I recently read how exceptional athletes like Serena Williams gain a competitive edge by improving their quality of sleep. “I require consistent, restful sleep in order to be at my best,” said Williams. “For the past 10 years, my Tempur mattress and pillows have delivered that.” Serena reached her tenth final at Wimbledon only 10 months after welcoming her firstborn into the world. She admitted sleep played a key role in her fairytale return. Someone tweeted the other day: “Serena Williams is better at tennis than you are at whatever you are best at.” I loved that.

Your bed setup is important though. We’ve all had uncomfortable beds in the past, maybe you have one now? If you struggle to get between six and eight hours sleep, think about turning off all screens as early as possible too. This will allow your body and mind to get into sleep mode. Dr. Levenson says: “Develop awareness around your social media habits. Are you awake and using it to pass time, or are you anxious and using it as a distraction? Think about how you use social media and how it might be affecting your sleep and then adjust accordingly.” Sound advice.

I recently asked my Facebook friends what their average sleeping time was. The times ranged from as little as two hours to upwards of ten hours. I’d call ten hours hibernation! I also had a couple of responses about the disruption of a snoring partner. The general feeling though was that having young kids does affect our sleep. I personally find my sleeping patterns also change depending on my routine. If I’m stressed, the kids are poorly or I over-train, I don’t sleep well at all. If I’ve had caffeine or spicy food in the evening, that affects my sleep too. Sometimes I’ll take a shower before bed as this helps me get to sleep quicker. In the winter months, we all tend to sleep better. The temperature isn’t as hot and muggy and it’s also darker in the evenings and mornings. Once I’m in a good routine though, my sleep patterns are much better. This in turn, means my training sessions and overall health and wellbeing are much better too.

I always knew sleep was important but I think writing this post has highlighted just how important sleep is to us. If you are currently struggling, maybe the tips in this post will help you. If they don’t help, I would definitely seek out further medical advice.

Thanks for reading,

*Disclaimer: This was a collaborative post with Tempur. All words and opinions are my own.