Bronze @ U23 Provincial Championships

Congrats to Matt Degiacomo on his Bronze medal at the Ontario Provincial TT championships. Keep working hard Matt.

Sleep and Performance

With the completion of the olympics we are left to ask the questions of athlete performance. How do they do it? We hear the stories of exasperated daily training regements, ravenous nutrition protocols, 10,000 hours vs. genetics, and well the not so nice topic of drug use and abuse. 

I would like to take the time to discuss one performance enhancing method that is often not discussed. Sleep. When we talk about improving performance we often forget that sleep is probably the single best way to improve athletic performance. Most of our physiological and psychological recovery/regeneration occurs while we are sleep. Research has shown that athletes observe an improvement in athletic performance with an improvement and regulation in their sleep hygiene. Have a look at the image below:

"How much sleep Professional Athletes Get". 

Image: from www.zeo.com

Some intersting observations can be made here. I think we can agree that most high level athletes accumulate more sleep than the average person. 

My intention here is to have you reflect about how long you sleep and how well you sleep. The key here is that each individual has their own sleep threshold. It is important to remember that a good majority of our recovery (both physiological and psychological) comes from a good nights rest. 

Things to consider for optimal sleep hygiene: 

1. Quality of sleep

2. Quantity of sleep

3. Feeling of restfulness

4. Times woken during night

Things to modify for optimal sleep:

1. Environment - I.E. Room temperature, Ambient lighting, and external noises (cool, quietand dark is ideal)

2. Pillows, Blankets, and Mattresses (are you a stomach, side, back sleeper, neck and back support? Temperature control with blankets, etc) 

3. Ear Plugs, Eye Mask 

4. Extra Disruptions (loud noises, animals, partners - we may never be able to change but, discussion would be key)

Cheri Mah (2008), a researcher at Sleep Disorders and Research Clinic at Stanford University, makes the following suggestion to help improve sleep hygiene:

• Make sleep a part of your regular training regimen.
• Extend nightly sleep for several weeks to reduce your sleep debt before competition.
• Maintain a low sleep debt by obtaining a sufficient amount of nightly sleep (seven to eight hours for adults, nine or more hours for teens and young adults).
• Keep a regular sleep-wake schedule, going to bed and waking up at the same times every day.
• Take brief naps to obtain additional sleep during the day, especially if drowsy.

I would suggest that each of us observe our sleep hygeine and work toward improving our quality and quantity of restfull sleep. A great way to track this would be make a section in your daily training log to observe specific trends associated with your sleep. We spend close to 1/3 of our life sleeping. It would be valuable for each of us to improve our restfull time and improve our performance both on and off the bike.

Supporting Articles:

1. Extra Sleep Boosts Basketball Players Prowess

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/424608/extra-sleep-boosts-basketball-players-prowess/

2. Science Daily: Extra Sleep Improves Performance 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080609071106.htm

Cheers, 

Jeff Schiller

IN HARD WORK I TRUST - AFRAID TO LOSE

Exercise and Learning

I had an opportunity to travel to Harvard University in Boston, MA to attend a professional development session regarding exercise and learning. Dr. Alex Thorton lead our professional development session. He is a neuro-scientist working with Dr. John Ratey to look at how exercise affects learning. I am sure we all understand the benefits of regular exercise. We hear about the benefits every day. However, after two days of lectures I am more aware of the cognitive and developmental benefits that exercise has on the brain and body. Further more I am convinced that exercise was the key to my success in life (increased attention, focus, improved learning, not to mention the health benefits). I suggest that everyone take a look at how exercise and physical activity influences their daily lifestyle.  I have included Dr. John Ratey's interview that appeared on The Agenda. Here he speaks about the importance of Exercise and the affect it has on learning.
As an athlete, coach, personal trainer, and teacher I feel it is important to promote and advocate for a regular exercise regiment to maintain a Healthy Active Lifestyle (not to mention the benefits to learning). Exercise often. Exercise well. Enjoy Life.