Al, a coach at CrossFit South Bay, recently posted about how cortisol and stress can undo all the blood sweat and tears you poured into your WOD earlier that week. An article in Mark’s Daily Apple offers some ideas as to how to circumvent the necessary 8-9 hours of sleep that seem to elude us all.

• Nap, any way, any how. Even a few minutes of shut eye can help rejuvenate you or at the very least, reduce the stress that your body feels at the moment
• Create bedtime routine. Whether it’s a warm bath, aromatherapy candles, a massage from an obliging girlfriend, an old textbook, a stuffed teddy-bear, a lace teddy, a binkie, a woobie, or whatever, put the effort into your bedtime routine as you do your workout and nutrition routine
• Set the scene. What keeps you up? Too bright? Loud neighbors? Too hot? Identify the problem and find a solution. Get shades or blackout curtains. Get a fan to drown out the neighbors and cool down the room. Get a sound machine. Put a pillow over a snoring spouse
• Set alarm–realistically. Not only should the snooze button addicts be tarred and feathered for being annoying and waking up their spouses, but they’re robbing themselves of essential sleep that is needed for repairing their bodies. If you’re the type that sets the alarm for thirty minutes prior to you getting your butt out of bed, try setting a realistic time and allow yourself to sleep deeply that much longer

Any other ideas? Post to comments.

Rest Day 10.04.09