fbpx
Category

Life Style

Power Naps

Can Snoozing For 10 Minutes Improve Your Performance

By Mindset, Life Style
Power Naps

It’s been a long, trying day at work and you are anticipating packing up and going home any minute. Your eyes are cloudy and you just want to curl up and take a nap. Your mood takes a bigger nose dive when you realize it’s only 2 in the afternoon and you have four more hours before you can leave. There’s no way you’re going to be able to accomplish anything else today because you just can’t focus anymore.

Does this sound familiar?

Strangely enough, it turns out that a 15-30 minute power nap can not only increase stamina and motor skills, it can also boost creativity! According to studies by The Department of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside, “without a midday rest, we are not able to perform at optimal levels throughout the day”.

I knew that I wasn’t meant to sit at a desk for 8+ hours and expect that I could be productive the whole time. Now, I know that science is behind me! Even NASA claims that a 30-minute nap could increase your cognitive faculties by about 40%!!

This doesn’t mean that you won’t be productive if you’re not napping but if you are experiencing fatigue, mood swings, lack of energy, motivation or drive during the day its probably because your sleep cycle is off, your meals are leaving you crashing with lows of sugar and or your caffeine intake is too high and thus leaving you dry after a few hours of no consumption.

Here’s the catch, though. There are some “rules” to get the best out of your nap time. First of all, power naps are short by definition. You will feel the most benefit if you limit it to between 15 and 30 minutes. If you go beyond 45 minutes, the reverse will happen and you can end up more groggy than before your nap.

Regardless of your occupation and if you are able to take a 10 min break to just shut off your phone, sit quietly, close your eyes, and relax it can make a big difference in your daily performance and production.

Secondly, research has shown that the best time for napping occurs about 8 hours after you wake…most people will find that napping between 1 pm and 3 pm will is the sweet spot. Third, keep the room quiet and as dark as possible. This makes it easier for you to relax wake up refreshed.

So, the next time you’re feeling a bit groggy, try tuning out the world for a short while and you’ll come back refreshed and ready to get back to business!

Who is Pure Motivation Fitness?

  • We help busy business professionals & stressed moms & dads look better naked, regain their work-life-family balance & improve sex drive in less than 90 days.
  • We teach you to eat & exercise for your unique body-type.
  • No more obsessing about fitness
  • No more fad diets

Are You Ready to Take Action and Get Started? Have A Question About COVID Safety or Pricing?

Take charge of your fitness & nutrition today. Click the BUTTON BELOW to schedule a complimentary Discovery Call and together we will plan your 90-day of body transformation.

How Sleep Recovery Supports A Healthier You PMF

How Sleep Recovery Supports A Healthier You

By Life Style
How Sleep Recovery Supports A Healthier You PMF

When someone decides they want to improve their health, they first begin with an exercise routine, maybe add in some more cardio or meet with a trainer to help guide them to their weight loss goals. This will be followed by working on getting the nutrition part in check, things as simple as not eating fast food or leaving dessert out of the meal or taking the next step and meeting with a nutritionist to get a plan to follow. These are the first and most basic, most common things pretty much all people do when beginning or getting more serious with their fitness program.

While these steps are great and are needed there is always one important element that most people leave out of the equation, and that is looking at their sleep habits. Sleep is often the forgotten but integral part of a healthy lifestyle, without proper sleep it can be hard to lose weight and you can even lose muscle mass and tone due to poor sleep habits.

Reduced sleep time has been linked to an increased risk of being overweight or obese. Continuing poor sleep, or a lack of sleep, increases signals to the brain to eat, and decreases signals telling the brain that enough food has been eaten. When we get less sleep the hormone cortisol increases which can increase cravings for food. Lack of sleep can play a role in hormone release, glucose regulation and cardiovascular function, as well as being a risk factor for obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Sleep:
– Supports healthy growth and development
– It boosts muscle mass by helping repair damaged cells and tissues
– During sleep, growth hormone, testosterone, and insulin-like growth factor are all released to aid in protein synthesis. With sleep deprivation, these hormones decrease and myostatin and cortisol increase.
– Testosterone increases strength and sized of skeletal muscle, increases force production potential and muscle mass, and promotes protein synthesis. Cortisol on the other hands converts amino acids into carbohydrates and inhibits protein synthesis. This increase in cortisol and decrease in testosterone results in protein degradation and muscle atrophy.

With a lack of sleep, you also see a drop-in muscle recovery, with human growth hormone being released later in the sleep cycle those who do not reach this stage will not receive the same aid in recovery as someone who does reach appropriate levels of sleep and therefore training at peak capacity is limited and muscle recovery is cut short.

With an increase in your daily sleep habits, your body has time to replenish and recover. This will allow you to maximize your results on your journey to overall health and fitness.

We can help you develop healthy habits! Contact us today to learn more!

Who is Pure Motivation Fitness?

  • We help busy business professionals & stressed moms & dads look better naked, regain their work-life-family balance & improve sex drive in less than 90 days.
  • We teach you to eat & exercise for your  unique body-type.
  • No more obsessing about fitness
  • No more fad diets

Are You Ready to Take Action and Get Started? Have A Question About COVID Safety or Pricing?

Take charge of your fitness & nutrition today. Click the BUTTON BELOW to schedule a complimentary Discovery Call and together we will plan your 90-day of body transformation.