A Good Night's Sleep, What Does It Mean? - Firstbeat

Sleep score 100 means your sleep is excellent: you have slept enough and most of it has been restorative. 80–99 stand for good sleep, 50–79 for moderate and 0– ... Firstbeat Close InEnglish fi de sv Blog ←Backtoblog Blog UserStories Webinars Podcasts Guides Events News Stress&Recovery SportsCoaching FirstbeatLife CorporateWellness Exercise&Fitness ←Backtoblog AGoodNight’sSleep,WhatDoesItMean? byFirstbeatin#Stress&Recovery,#ExerciseandFitness AGoodNight’sSleep,WhatDoesItMean? Firstbeat Stress&RecoveryExerciseandFitness Like Tweet Share Goodnight,sleeptight…butwhat exactly isagoodnight’s sleep? Oneofthemainpurposes ofsleepisto recoverfromdailyactivities andreplenish thebody physiologicallyandpsychologically. Physiologicallyrecoverymeansreducedactivationlevelsinthebody. Duringrecoveryparasympathetic(rest&digest)activationdominatestheautonomicnervoussystem and thesympathetic(fightorflight)responseisdiminished. Themore the parasympathetic systemdominates duringsleep,themoreyourbody is ableto recoverandthemore resourcesyouhavefor thefollowingdaysandtasks.Thus,agood night’s sleepcontains plentyofparasympatheticdominationthatbalances your daily stressresponses. Thisiscalledrestorativesleep. Obviously, theamountofsleepis also important:ifyousleep for only a fewhoursanightitisnotpossibletohaveenough for recovery. In general,itissaidthatadultsneedatleast7hoursofsleepto get rested (NationalSleepFoundation). However,sometimesyoumighthaveslept8hours ormore andyoustillfeelexhaustedandsleepy. Inthiscase theamountofrestorativesleepisprobablylow andtherehas been a stressresponse goingon inyourbodydespite being asleep. Theamountofsleepiseasiertocontrolbyyourselfthansleepquality,atleastifyoudon’tsufferfrominsomnia. SleepQualityvs.Quantity So, which one counts,thequalityor thequantity?Is9hours of mediocresleepbetterthan6hours of excellentsleep? Unfortunately, thereisno clear-cutanswer since itisthecombination thatmatters. Toacertaindegree, itispossibletocompensate onewiththe other. Forexample,ifyouarea supersleeperandalmost100%ofyoursleepisrestorative,youcan dowellwithonly6hoursofsleep,butifthequalityis poor,youmightneedover9hoursofsleep. Butthelineisdrawn somewhere: lessthan5hours ofsleep (for18–64yearsold) isnotenoughforatruerecoveryinthelongrun,althoughyou can managesomesingledayswiththat littlesleep.Andviceversa: for example overtraining, illnessorsomeenvironmentalfactors candeteriorate your sleepquality, hence youarenotalertandenergetic,nomatterhowmanyhoursyousleep. SleepIsinYourHeart TomakethingssimplerFirstbeathascreateda SleepQuality Assessment that takesintoaccountthesleepdurationandthequalityofrecoveryduringsleep.Itindicateshowwellyoursleepsupportsthereplenishmentofbodyresourcesbyrevealing yoursleepscore,onascalefrom1to100. Sleepscoretakesintoaccountboththedurationofthesleepandthequalityoftherecovery. Sleepscore 100meansyoursleepisexcellent:youhavesleptenoughandmostofithasbeenrestorative. 80–99standforgoodsleep,50–79 formoderateand 0–49 forpoorsleep. Sleepscoreisacombinationoftwovariables, amount andquality ofsleep.Thus, youcanachievethesamescore in many ways,by sleepinglongerorsleepingbetter. Forexample,togetthesamesleepscoreyouneed20%morerestorativesleepifyousleeponly6hoursinsteadof7hours. How does Firstbeatknowhowyousleep?Itisallinyourheart.Insightintotherestorativequalityofyoursleepiscodedintoyour heartratevariabilitywhichrespondsquicklytoconstantchangesinyourautonomicnervoussystem.Firstbeatanalyticsidentify andinterpret meaningfulpatternsin yourheartbeatdata andthesleepscoregivesyoutheabilitytoknowhowyousleptandrecognize lifestylefactorsthataffectyoursleepquality. Quiteoften thedurationandthedepthof sleepisestimatedonlybasedonamotion-sensor.However,theaccuracymayvarydependingonhowmuchyoumovewhilesleeping–and whether you are justlyingstillbutnotasleep.Becausetheanalysisofyourheartrategivesaninsight intoyourautonomicnervoussystem,itidentifiesmorereliablyifyoursleepisrestorativeornot. SleepCanChangeYourLife Inadreamworld,youwouldalwaysgetenoughhigh-qualitysleepeverynightandwakeupfeelingrefreshedandrecharged.Unfortunately,thatisnotthecase,atleastfor mostof us. Sometimesitisthebusyschedulesthatforceyoutoreducesleepinghours,sometimeskidskeepyouawake,sometimespartyingandalcoholwreckyourrestorativesleep. However,theimportanceofsleepshouldn’tbeoverlooked. Agoodnight’s sleepisvitaltoourphysicalhealthandpsychologicalwell-being.Sleep improves your memory andmood, reducesstress, helpsyoutomaintainyourweightandaffectsyourperformance inmanyways…tonamejustafew. The amountofsleepiseasiertocontrolbyyourselfthansleepquality,atleastifyoudon’tsufferfromserious insomnia.Sticktoasleepschedule,controlyourexposuretolight,makesureyoursleepenvironmentisproperandbesmartabouteatinganddrinking. Youcanreadmoreaboutsleeplessnessandtipsfordealingwiththat in ourpreviousblog. Ofcourse, youcanalsoaffectyoursleepqualitybyidentifying lifestylefactorsthatreducetheamountofrestorativesleep. Forexample,alcoholisageneralreasonforpoorsleepquality. Evenasingledrinkcanhavea negativeimpactontherestorativesleep. Youcanreadmore aboutimprovingsleepquality, in ourpreviousblog. Tosumup,theamountandthequalityofsleeparecloselyintertwined–notjusttoeachotherbutalsotoyourgenerallifestyleanddailyhabits.Healthylifestyle choices canmakeabigdifferencetoyoursleepinghabitswhichinturncanimproveyouroverallwell-beinginatremendousway. Areyou eager toknowhowwellyousleep? Wecanhelp. Youmightalsobeinterestedin TheSuunto3FitnessTracksSleepQuality–WhatCanIDotoImproveIt? Blog #Stress&Recovery#ExerciseandFitness TheSuunto3FitnessTracksSleepQuality–WhatCanIDotoImproveIt? Asyouthinkaboutstress,recovery,andsleepinrelationshiptoyourowndailyroutinesandlifestyledecisions,it’sworthkeepinginmindthatstressincreasesyourbody’sneedforgoodqualitysleep. Firstbeat WhyGoodSleepHygieneReallyMattersinEliteSports Blog #SportsCoaching WhyGoodSleepHygieneReallyMattersinEliteSports Thelevelsofphysicalandmentalexertionrequiredtomaintainperformanceattheelitelevelmeanseffectiverecoveryisessential.Goodqualitysleepisonewayofgettingexactlythat.However,gettingenoughsleep(andtherightkind)canbeharderthanitsounds. Firstbeat TheBigPictureofWellness–StressManagement,GoodSleepandNutritionGoHandinHand Blog #Stress&Recovery TheBigPictureofWellness–StressManagement,GoodSleepandNutritionGoHandinHand Weightmanagementandhealthyeatingareissuesthatwellnessprofessionalsfaceeverydaywiththeirclients. TiinaHoffmanExercisePhysiologist&MasterTrainer,Firstbeat