FITNESS ZOMBIES

The Circadian Rythm In All It’s Glory

The topic of sleep has fascinated me, especially recently. I realised that I was being too stubborn and not listening to my body when it was screaming at me …

…I was absolutely exhausted! And now, after researching sleep in more depth, and, of the effects it has on the human body, in particular, our hormones, nervous system, and musckeletal system, I needed to practiced what I preached, which is why (very recently), I prioritized sleep for the betterment of my health and for the purpose of recovering my nervous (Doherty, Madigan et al, 2021) and musckeletal systems (Atrooz, 2020; Fullagar, 2016). And prior to that, like anyone bombarded by artificial light (bluelight, etc.), inconsistent work=patterns, and other distractions, such as unwanted media pop-ups (etc…), I really struggled to prioritise my sleep, because I had important tasks to do like write my book, continue to produce helpful content to you guys through this newsletter, and continue to follow through on my training plan for next year’s (2024) Great North Swim.

Statistics!

People just do not get enough sleep (Suni, Truong, 2023; NHS, 2017). In an article showing the ‘Massive Decline in Sleep Quality in the Past Year’ Nuffield’s Health Nation Index (HNI) survey (2022) reported these results:

• “74% of UK adults reported a decline in quality sleep over the past 12 months

• Young adults aged 35-44 got the least sleep, with almost 50% only getting 5-6 hours per night and only 33% getting the recommended 7-8 hours

• 1 in 10 people were getting only 2-4 hours of sleep per night.

• Over half of respondents didn’t believe quality sleep builds immunity

• Fewer people with household incomes of £15,000 or less got the recommended 7-8 hours of sleep per night than those on incomes over £75,000”

So the question beckons, ‘How Does This Effect Our Health & Fitness Performance?’

Meredith (2022) stated in the Health Nation Index (HNI) survey, “…poor sleepers have reduced reaction times and trouble cncentrating”.

Your Circadian Rythm

The amount, and quality of sleep that you get is determined by your circadian rythm (sleep-wake cycle) (Meyer, Harvey et al, 2022) and melatonin production (Tahkamo et al, 2019). The quality of our sleep-wake cycle is determined by many factors including, different light exposures, our day-to-day activities, and, as stated in the journal ‘The Lancet’ by Meyer et al (2022), “Circadian rhythms are generated by networks of molecular oscillators in the brain and peripheral tissues that interact with environmental and behavioural cycles to promote the occurrence of sleep during the environmental night”.

Think about how “slow” and drowsey you feel after you’ve had disturbed sleep; and think about how much energy you have in the tank, that’s because a lack of sleep (or in my case, a prolonged lack of sleep), not only effects how you feel (or perceive how you feel), but as stated before, effects your nervous system and musckeletal system as well. In the journal Nutrients (2021), Doherty, Madigan et al looked at the sleep and recovery practices of athletes, and here’s what they found when compiling their introduction to their study…

1. Sleep deprivation increases circulatory stress hormones (Meerlo et al, 2008).

2. Decreases the regeneration of carbohydrate stores (e.g. glycogen) (Morselli, Leproult et al, 2010).

3. Impacts on energy expenditure.

4. And, increases catabolism (muscle break-down), and decreases muscle anabolism (rgeneration of muscle) (Atrooz, 2020; Fullagar, 2016).

You see, all of this time spent being stubborn and ignoring my body, while I was being productive, I was destroying my body’s physiology; and when I think how this impacted on every other part of my life, such as work and socialising with family, I just didn’t have the energy, so I used caffeine! Which, although there is research supporting the use of caffeine (O’Callaghan et al, 2018) for us humans to stay awake, we must focus on getting our circadian rythm back on track to support the physiological functions of our body and correcting our biological imbalances.

…… I should’ve listened to my body!

If your body is continuously in a catabolic state because your sleep-wake cycle is f**@!*d, then you will never generate the necessary protein s in your body to recovery your muscles or your brain.

The above has effected how consistenly I train on a weekly basis, AND how much effort I put into training. I have lacked energy in my approach to training, which is what prompted me to undertake this research to help you guys in the first place.

The Take-a-ways:

1. Listen to your body!

2. Adopt good sleep hygeine habits.

3. And, Find ways to optimize your sleep-wake cycle!

Take care guys! And, thanks for reading!

Brad

References:

Atrooz F, Salim S. Sleep deprivation, oxidative stress and inflammation. Adv Protein Chem Struct Biol. 2020;119:309-336. doi: 10.1016/bs.apcsb.2019.03.001. Epub 2019 Apr 24. PMID: 31997771.

Doherty R, Madigan SM, Nevill A, Warrington G, Ellis JG. The Sleep and Recovery Practices of Athletes. Nutrients. 2021 Apr 17;13(4):1330. doi: 10.3390/nu13041330. PMID: 33920560; PMCID: PMC8072992.

Fullagar HH, Bartlett JD. Time to wake up: individualising the approach to sleep promotion interventions. Br J Sports Med. 2016 Feb;50(3):143-4. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2015-095759. Epub 2015 Dec 23. PMID: 26701930.

Meerlo P, Sgoifo A, Suchecki D. Restricted and disrupted sleep: effects on autonomic function, neuroendocrine stress systems and stress responsivity. Sleep Med Rev. 2008 Jun;12(3):197-210. doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2007.07.007. Epub 2008 Jan 25. PMID: 18222099.

Meredith S. NEWS: ‘Massive Decline in Sleep Quality in the Past Year’, 27th September 2022. Medscape, UK. Cited: Massive Decline in Sleep Quality In the Past Year (medscape.co.uk). Accessed: Thursday 29/06/2023.

Meyer N., Harvey AG., Lockley SW., and Dijk D-J. Circadian rythms and disorders of the timing of sleep. The Lancet: Sleep and Sleep Disorders 2022 Sep; 400(10357): 1061-1078.:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00877-7 

Morselli L, Leproult R, Balbo M, Spiegel K. Role of sleep duration in the regulation of glucose metabolism and appetite. Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2010 Oct;24(5):687-702. doi: 10.1016/j.beem.2010.07.005. PMID: 21112019; PMCID: PMC3018785.

O'Callaghan F, Muurlink O, Reid N. Effects of caffeine on sleep quality and daytime functioning. Risk Manag Healthc Policy. 2018 Dec 7;11:263-271. doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S156404. PMID: 30573997; PMCID: PMC6292246.

Sen S. ‘How Blue Light Can Distrupt Your Sleep’, Last updated June 19th, 2023. Cited: How Blue Light Can Disrupt Your Sleep - Amerisleep. Accessed: Thursday 29/06/2023)

Tähkämö L, Partonen T, Pesonen AK. Systematic review of light exposure impact on human circadian rhythm. Chronobiol Int. 2019 Feb;36(2):151-170. doi: 10.1080/07420528.2018.1527773. Epub 2018 Oct 12. PMID: 30311830.