Team USA Sleep Expert Shares Sleep Tips
Meet Dr. Jeffrey Durmer
With Olympic competition currently underway in Tokyo, there’s no better time to seek sleep advice from a Team USA expert. This is exactly what Rachel Bleier does in her article “5 tips for better sleep from Team USA’s sleep expert” on Golf.com. The advice comes from Dr. Jeffrey Durmer who serves as Chief Medical Officer of Nox Health. He is also a neuroscientist specializing in sleep. In connection with Team USA, he works with the weightlifting team to ensure that the team gets proper sleep to excel during training and competition.
In an interview with Good Morning America, he said the following while discussing the importance of sleep, “It has changed a lot—the perception about sleep, where [athletes] kind of looked at sleep as ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead. I can workout three times a day.’ What we found is that this concept of overtraining syndrome is really not about overtraining, it’s about under-recovery. So if you’re not recovering enough, your training itself could become a detriment.” Regardless of the variation of fitness level in the gaming community, many people may have the “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” mindset. As Dr. Durmer suggests, this can be detrimental.
Dr. Durmer’s Tips
1. Build a bedtime routine
Making the commitment to set a bedtime that allows you to get 8 hours of sleep is important. We all know this (and sometimes brush it off), but taking that first step and even setting an alarm or alert to help remind you of your bedtime is worthwhile. Bleier/Durmer also mention taking the time to wind down before bed. For the gaming community, certainly gaming is a go-to. Ensure you’re wearing Gamer Advantage glasses to block blue light that allow you get to sleep easier after doing so.
2. Cool down
Durmer recommends taking a warm shower and then cooling down quickly will assist in the cooling down process. He also reasons that sleeping in a cooler temperature is good for falling asleep quicker and staying asleep.
3. Kick technology out of your room
In a great crossover with the mission of Gamer Advantage, Durmer’s reason for getting rid of technology stems from the idea that the light from devices (presumably blue light) can disrupt the circadian rhythm and sleep. This is true and is another reason why clinically proven gaming glasses can help.
4. View sleep as part of your performance
In the article, this is framed around the idea of getting proper sleep being part of framework for the ability to excel on the golf course. Of course, the same can be applied to those in school, at work, and while gaming competitively as concentration is key for each.
5. Pay attention to your sleep habits
On this point, even with setting a reasonable time to sleep with a good routine, sleep quality may still be an issue. Consulting an expert is recommended in the article, but, once again, blue light glasses may be an effective solution as well. Gamer Advantage glasses are highly effective at stopping the suppression of melatonin.
Source:
https://golf.com/instruction/fitness/5-tips-better-sleep-team-usa-exper/
Photo by Emma Smith on Unsplash
