2 Things You MUST Spend Freely On

Limitless Athletes by Crazy Muscle

One of the best, yet least-commonly heard pieces of advice I know is this...

“If you want to experience a terrific quality of life, remember: you’ll spend almost your entire life in two places:

1. Your BED
2. Your SHOES

So don’t bargain shop on either of those items!”

One of the most common pitfalls that high achievers make is with their sleep.

Are you doing everything you can, to ensure the very best sleep possible?

Many are not...

In fact, we as a group tend to push a little too hard, for too long.

Among the Hustlers of the World, burnout is insanely common. I’ve experienced it more times than I care to admit so I did something about it.

I hired a performance coach who taught me things I honestly didn’t believe at first.... But because of what I learned (and experienced), I’ll never handicap myself with a bad night of sleep ever again.

Here’s the crazy part.

You might even be able to fix the problem simply by adjusting WHEN you workout:

The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research did a study which showed definitively that lifting weights in the morning helped subjects fall asleep about 45 minutes faster, while lifting in the evening improved the quality of sleep.

So, if you’re finding yourself short on time to rest, consider working out in the evening.

If you’re tossing and turning after lights out, stick with the morning workouts.

And hey, if you need both, faster and better sleep--and aren’t into two-a-days--another study suggests adding some walking, or medium-intensive cardio to your daily routine.

Walking has been tied to achieving both, falling asleep faster and better quality sleep.

While there are about 2.6 billion (seriously) articles online about getting better sleep, here are a few I’ve personally adopted into my own routine:

• Take a short nap in the afternoon
• Don’t look at screens 45 - 60 minutes before bed time
• Replace your light bulbs in your room with halogen bulbs instead of modern LED bulbs
• Don’t drink alcohol or limit it as much as you can
• Have a nightly wind down routine
• Use an app, like Sleep Cycle, which tracks your sleep quality and tells you how long you were snoring and how long you actually slept
• Try using a sleep mask or putting covers on any windows so it’s pitch black if you struggle to stay asleep

And here are two strategies to get started if you’ve never been intentional with your sleep:

• For 2-3 weeks, I’ll simply go to sleep when I get tired and wake up naturally. This will help you determine or recalibrate how much sleep your body needs (because this can change over the years) and what your ideal sleep/wake schedule is (everyone is different).
• Turn off all electronics at least 90 minutes before bed and spend time doing something offline (Tim Ferriss likes to say “the bedroom is for sleeping and sex… no electronics!).

While writing about sleep is incredibly subjective and you might NOT benefit from any of these, it’s my opinion that springing for a quality mattress, some really nice sheets and pillows will make a difference that’s a terrific multiple of the investment.

In closing, remember that your longevity has been clearly linked with regular sleep patterns, so if at all possible, try to use these tips and establish a consistent daily schedule.