During the prime golf season months of May through October, many of you will be out on the course swinging away – two, sometimes three days in a row. And if you’re reading this, it’s like your body is ill-prepared for such rigorous activity in the first place.
So how can you play often and recover adequately to play well? Recovery & Regeneration…
“Recovery is the limiting factor in performance for any athlete.”_Brett The Golf Guy
There Are Two Modes To Recovery & Regeneration
1-Passive Recovery, which requires no effort on your part. (e.g. getting a massage, sleeping, ice baths)
2-Active Recovery, which requires some effort on your part.
Think of recovery & regeneration as a vacation from stress. It’s giving your body a time-out so it can recover and come back strong. How rapidly can your body’s soft tissues and nervous system recover from the stress of sport?
This blog will focus on passive recovery in the form of getting enough sleep.
Most of you don’t sleep nearly enough. As a C.H.E.K Holistic Lifestyle Coach, I learned long ago about the natural rhythms of the body and how important they are to optimal health and well-being.
As primal beings, we were designed to follow the rhythms of the sun and the moon.
A productive day at work and a successful day on the course begin the night before by getting enough sleep. Your parents had a bedtime for you when you were in school for a reason…. so you woke up rested and refreshed the next day, thus affording you the best opportunity to learn in school. Well, the job at the office isn’t any different. The same principles of health and wellness still apply to adults.
How much sleep do we need?
Well, individual needs vary, but most experts agree that we should be getting between 7 – 9 hours per night.
It’s not just the amount of sleep that’s important but the time periods in which you get that sleep. Our basic physiology is the same as our ancient ancestors who lived by the natural rhythms of the sun, moon, and seasons, but in modern times we are exposed to artificial light long beyond the setting of the sun. It’s this “bucking of nature” and staying up long past 10 p.m. that we run into all sorts of problems.
Our physical repair cycle is from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. and our physiological repair cycle is from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. If you continually miss these essential repair periods your body will not completely recover from physical and emotional stress. This eventually leads to a depressed immune system, chronic fatigue, and illness.
Many of you are in the habit of watching TV in bed. BAD HABIT. The bedroom is for 2 things ONLY. Sleep is #1, the second one I’ll let you figure out on your own.
3 quick bedtime tips:
- Stick to a schedule: Your body doesn’t understand the difference between Tuesday night and Saturday night. Aim for a consistent bedtime every night.
- Sleep in complete darkness: Any light in the room will penetrate your eyelids and stimulate your brain to wake you up. Watching T.V. in the room to fall asleep to is a no, no.
- Avoid alcohol and desserts before bedtime: They will spike your blood sugar levels and have you waking up in the middle of the night.
Brett’s Bottom Line: Not getting enough sleep is nothing you want to brag about. Get to bed on time, and you’ll thank me in the morning.
To Longer Drives, Lower Scores, and Fewer Injuries.
