It’s the type of confusing one-liners from the medical community that make your head spin and question science. So, where’s the healthy option?

While this might seem like a cruel joke, it’s exactly what British researchers (and several others) found when analyzing the sleep patterns of more than 1 million people, across 27 different studies.

The research—thankfully—is misleading. (And just one more reason to never put too much into eye-catching headlines.) The studies were correlational, and did have an direct cause between sleep and death. And yet, the number of people that suffer from sleep problems is increasing.

And more important to you, it opened up discussions and research on the importance of how you sleep. While getting enough rest is important, no number is perfect for everyone, which is why sleep quality is essential for every aspect of your recovery.

You see, poor quality sleep (whether it’s too much or too little) can set you up for a variety of health problems ranging from insomnia to depression and even cardiovascular disease. And it’s these health issues that will cause you problems.

While you might be trying to do everything right—not drinking alcohol before bed, avoiding late night technology, sleeping in a colder room—chances are you’re still missing out on some not-so-obvious behaviors and decisions that could be harming and disrupting your sleep.

Poor Alarm Clock Management

Ever wake up after a seemingly great night of sleep—say 10 hours—and still feel exhausted? The problem is actually very common. Sleeping is supposed to be a thoughtless process, but it turns out that spending more time thinking about how you sleep can have a life-changing impact on your restfulness.

Most people arbitrarily set their alarm for when they need to wake up.

What you really should do?

Time when you body wants to wake up. After all, grogginess and feeling refreshed isn’t necessarily caused by how many hours you sleep, but instead by the number of complete sleep cycles you enjoy, according to research published in Applied Cognitive Studies.

When you sleep, you go through 5 different cycles, with the final phase being REM sleep—or the period when dreams occur.

During phase 1 your vital signs are closest to being awake, and during stage 4 you’re in your deepest sleep, with your heart rate and blood pressure dropping by as much as 30 percent. Each 5-phase sleep cycle lasts about 90 minutes.

So what happens when you wake up during your deep sleep? It’s probably how you feel every Monday. Tired. Exhausted. Trouble to concentrate. This is known as sleep inertia, and a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that morning grogginess could be a bigger impairment than not sleeping all night. (Not that we need to tell you; coffee is popular for reason.)

Your solution is timing your sleep so that you don’t wake up during the wrong portion of a sleep cycle. A good rule of thumb is aiming for 7.5 or 9 hours of sleep per night. If you must sleep less, sleeping 6 hours might prove to be more restful than 7 because you’re more likely to wake up in the first phase of sleep as opposed to a jarring alarm in the middle of your REM sleep.

Eating Right Before You Sleep

While you might know eating carbs at night isn’t a bad thing, it’s important to know when you should have them. Eating too close to your sleep can offset the benefits of a carbohydrate- based meal because after you eat, a protein called “c-peptide” is created to help insulin do its job and store nutrients.

Only one problem: c-peptide is linked to lower levels of melatonin, the hormone that helps you sleep.

According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, night snacks hurt your overall sleep quality, meaning it’s best to separate sleep and your final meal of the day by 1-2 hours.

The Vitamin D Paradox

You probably know Vitamin D as the “sunshine vitamin” and for it’s numerous health benefits. These days, you’ll be hard pressed to find a doctor that won’t prescribe Vitamin D, especially during the winter.

But not having enough Vitamin D in your system can also cause sleep problems and daytime sleepiness. That was the findings of scientists at Louisiana State University who discovered the link between low Vitamin D and people with sleep problems—and we’re not just talking about some restless. Lack of vitamin D could be linked to sleep disorders, such as insomnia or sleep apnea.

Naturally, you might assume that you should pop a few Vitamin D pills before you go to sleep, but that would actually harm your sleep.

Remember, Vitamin D is produced in sunshine, meaning it’s an indicator of light and daytime. So when you take Vitamin D, it decreases melatonin levels. In some experimental trials, taking Vitamin D at night decreased REM sleep and the number of hours in nighttime slumber.

Your best bet is to supplement with Vitamin D first thing in the morning or during the afternoon. Research shows that a safe dosage is between 2,000 and 4,000 IU, preferably from Vitamin D3.

The Sunshine-Sleep Effect

Just because you take Vitamin D doesn’t mean you should stop going outside. Sleep is a result of your natural circadian rhythms, which are reactions to knowing when you should be awake and when you should be asleep.

Think about it: The reason you’re supposed to turn off electronics before you sleep (a common sleep disturbance), is that those electronics emit blue light, which is similar to the light you’re exposed to during daytime. The blue light signals to your body that it’s daytime, which disrupts your natural production of melatonin and hurts your ability to sleep.

But your ability to fall asleep is dependent your body knowing that it’s time for bed. When the sun is out, you need to see it. It builds a more natural daytime circadian cycle of light, meaning that when it’s dark your body is more prone to fall asleep naturally, without any aids, pills, or noise machines.

To create a longer daytime circadian cycle—and thus triggering a quicker release of melatonin when it’s dark—try to see experience sunlight as early as possible in the early morning, such as going for a quick walk or step outside after you awaken.

The Hydration Equation

Good hydration is an essential component of your health, but too much drinking before you sleep can severely disrupt a restful night of sleep, and even cause a disorder known as nocturia. Remember, you sleep in several cycles throughout the night. And when you need to go to the bathroom, it can disturb the most restful periods of sleep making you restless.

Your body is designed to hold your need to go for about 6 to 8 hours. But as we age, this ability begins to decline becomes of hormonal changes. So your best bet is create better practices that will help you sleep through the night regardless of your age.

Start by trying to remove liquids at least 1-2 hours before you sleep. And then, make sure that you try to make smarter drink choices. Beverages like coffee or tea can trigger a great need to go. And while a little alcohol might appear to help you sleep faster, it will wake up you up sooner and keep you up, as it’s a powerful diuretic.

Adam Bornstein

Adam Bornstein is a New York Times bestselling author and the author of You Can’t Screw This Up. He is the founder of Born Fitness, and the co-founder of Arnold’s Pump Club (with Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Pen Name Consulting. An award-winning writer and editor, Bornstein was previously the Chief Nutrition Officer for Ladder, the Fitness and Nutrition editor for Men’s Health, Editorial Director at LIVESTRONG.com, and a columnist for SHAPE, Men’s Fitness, and Muscle & Fitness. He’s also a nutrition and fitness advisor for LeBron James, Cindy Crawford, Lindsey Vonn, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. According to The Huffington Post, Bornstein is “one of the most inspiring sources in all of health and fitness.” His work has been featured in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Fast Company, ESPN, and GQ, and he’s appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and E! News.

The post Solve Sleep Problems: Solutions to Better Rest and Recovery appeared first on Born Fitness.

How often do you suggest a rest or deload week if regularly lifting?

We grow when we lift. We grow when we recover. But when you’re not lifting, sometimes it feels like you’re not growing at all. This is the dilemma you face, and why so many people just can’t figure out when to back off. That’s why deloads exist: you don’t have to stop training completely, but the lighter week helps you reduce plateaus and injuries without freaking out over missing the gym.

The higher your training age (more advanced lifters) the more frequent you need to deload.

A deload can work in many ways. You can try adjusting any of the following variables:

Sets: Do fewer sets per exercise, so instead of 3 sets per exercise do 2.

Reps: Do less reps at the same weight; so instead of 10 reps do 6 per exercise at the same weight.

Weight: Use about 60% of the weight, but maintain same reps and sets.

Unlike what some might suggest, there’s no golden rule. Your needs can be broken down into three primary categories: recovery, your style of training, how many years you’ve been part of the iron game. Use this simple approach to schedule your training sessions and you’ll keep growing and improving year-round.

Designing Off Weeks From Training

The main question was about lifting heavy, but we don’t all crush huge weights, and this factor plays a big role in how much rest you need. When recovering from a recent hamstring tear, I set a goal of doing rack deadlifts with 500 pounds. That was my point of recovery and pulling from the floor. But that type of load meant I was doing a deload once every 3 to weeks. The results? Just 14 weeks post injury I hit 500 pounds.

My journey needed more rest because of the heavy weight and higher training frequency. Bodybuilding-style workouts (like splitting up into chest, back, and leg day) that have higher volume can require less of a need for deloads.

That’s because the lower frequency (per muscle group) and load (less overall weight) doesn’t result in as much stress on your joints, assuming that you’re doing the exercises correctly. The heavier you go and the harder you hit it, the more you need to quit it. (At least for the occasional week.)

If you’re using heavy weights (think 3-6 rep maxes) on a daily basis, here’s a sample deload.

Week 1: Don’t take any sets to failure. Push towards technical failure but leave a rep or 2 in the tank.

Week 2: Push to technical failure (form and tempo still perfect), but not muscular failure.

Week 3: Deload, backing off one of the variables listed above.

Week 4: Push towards a PR and failure on last set. Then repeat the process the following week. Weights should keep going up.

Assess your Recovery

You want to train your best every day. But sometimes, your body just won’t “peak” no matter how many preworkouts you pump into your body. Apps like BioForce HRV do a great job of telling you how hard you should be pushing during your workout, or you can do it the old school way.

Old School Recovery Assessment

Step 1: Take your resting heart rate every morning for a week and determine your average before starting a new program.

Step 2: Start testing your heart rate after your program begins. Measure for one week.

Step 3: If you’re resting heart rate is jumping up, typically by 10 beats per minute or more, you need more recovery (take off an additional 1 to 2 days) or schedule a deload using the plan above..

Pro Tip: Consider Your Training Age

If you’re a beginner stop worrying about overtraining. Because the total weight you can use in training is less, the likelihood of needing an entire week for a deload is reduced. Instead, simply focus on training 3 to 4 day per week, pushing yourself as hard as you can. Having 3 or 4 days of rest will be more than enough for recovery, even though your muscle will probably feel very sore.

The higher your training age (more advanced lifters) the more frequent you need to deload.

New lifters can sometimes go 12 weeks (or more) without needing a deload. But if you’ve been lifting for more than 5 years, it’s wise to schedule a deload every 4 to 8 weeks, depending on how you feel.

Want Help Creating Your Workouts (and Diet)?

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Adam Bornstein

Adam Bornstein is a New York Times bestselling author and the author of You Can’t Screw This Up. He is the founder of Born Fitness, and the co-founder of Arnold’s Pump Club (with Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Pen Name Consulting. An award-winning writer and editor, Bornstein was previously the Chief Nutrition Officer for Ladder, the Fitness and Nutrition editor for Men’s Health, Editorial Director at LIVESTRONG.com, and a columnist for SHAPE, Men’s Fitness, and Muscle & Fitness. He’s also a nutrition and fitness advisor for LeBron James, Cindy Crawford, Lindsey Vonn, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. According to The Huffington Post, Bornstein is “one of the most inspiring sources in all of health and fitness.” His work has been featured in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Fast Company, ESPN, and GQ, and he’s appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and E! News.

The post The Art of the Deload appeared first on Born Fitness.