Post by Sandi on Sept 17, 2010 16:02:52 GMT
Sleep that is! 
Sleep - or lack of it - is a common phenomenon in our 24hour society. In a world when you can do your weekly shop at 2 am or pay your gas bill on line at midnight it is tempting to keep fitting more into your daily routine. Britons work longer hours on average than any other European country, couple that with family and home commitments and squeezing in some time for cycling and something has to give. Unfortunately the thing most likely to go is sleep. Even an hour less than you need a night over time can become a problem.
Sleep isn’t very well understood as yet but interest in research is growing rapidly and new aspects keeping being revealed.
We know recovery is just as important as exercise, it gives your body time to heal adapt to the training load and become stronger. Recovery means having an easy spin, putting your feet up after a training ride and finding time to relax. Getting enough sleep is another factor altogether – resting is no substitute for sleeping.
Accumulative lack of sleep is a major health problem for the whole nation but to someone who trains hard and expects a lot from their bodies sleep can have a major effect on how well you adapt to training as well as general health and well being. Doctors in America have called lack of sleep “America’s top health problem”, the rise in adult onset diabetes and obesity have all been connected with chronic sleep loss along with day to day problems of loss of concentration, lowered immune system and irritability.
Sleep - or lack of it - is a common phenomenon in our 24hour society. In a world when you can do your weekly shop at 2 am or pay your gas bill on line at midnight it is tempting to keep fitting more into your daily routine. Britons work longer hours on average than any other European country, couple that with family and home commitments and squeezing in some time for cycling and something has to give. Unfortunately the thing most likely to go is sleep. Even an hour less than you need a night over time can become a problem.
Sleep isn’t very well understood as yet but interest in research is growing rapidly and new aspects keeping being revealed.
We know recovery is just as important as exercise, it gives your body time to heal adapt to the training load and become stronger. Recovery means having an easy spin, putting your feet up after a training ride and finding time to relax. Getting enough sleep is another factor altogether – resting is no substitute for sleeping.
Accumulative lack of sleep is a major health problem for the whole nation but to someone who trains hard and expects a lot from their bodies sleep can have a major effect on how well you adapt to training as well as general health and well being. Doctors in America have called lack of sleep “America’s top health problem”, the rise in adult onset diabetes and obesity have all been connected with chronic sleep loss along with day to day problems of loss of concentration, lowered immune system and irritability.
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