Check out what our intern, Brittany Knoch, has to say about how your phone can be limiting your workouts!
Do you ever feel sleep deprived throughout your day? Have you ever tried taking action steps to have more energy throughout your day by getting better sleep? I understand this, as a college senior I feel as if I could always do better with my sleep schedule. We tend to think that if we go to bed early, we are missing out on late night adventures, either in person or on our screens. You are not alone if you have tried starting healthier sleep habits and it only worked for about a week, or even a few days! It is actually more of a mental challenge than a physical one.
Research shows that our phones and other devices are keeping us from having successful nights of sleep. Our brain works through a circadian rhythm system, and if this system is disrupted, our sleep is disrupted. The blue light from our screens can suppress melatonin, which is the hormone that is responsible for keeping us sleepy at night. The more light that surrounds us, the less melatonin will be able to be released; so you need darker spaces to release this sleep hormone.
One step you can take to help your sleep schedule is to keep as many screens out of your bedroom as possible. The more tablets and devices you have near your bed, the harder it will be for your body to release sleep hormones. A more drastic change is to keep all devices out of your room. This will for sure take away any blue light that may be taking away from your sleep!
Another great advice tip is to try and stay off your phone 30 minutes prior to going to sleep, an hour even if you can! If you are not able to commit to this, you could try putting your phone on sleep mode or darkening your screen. There is a setting where the light being emitted from your phone is a warmer white and will not be as aggressive as a bright white light.
If you are able to stay off your phone, try doing something else you enjoy that will be relaxing to your mind. Get a drink of water, some light stretching, or read out of a physical book. Maybe even switch out your phone alarm for a real digital alarm clock so you are not tempted to check your phone first thing in the morning, (which brings us to a topic for another day)!
I hope you can try some of these tips; I know that it has worked for me! Whenever I go to bed without being on my phone for the previous hour or however long, I sleep better, get to sleep faster, and if I am working out that next morning or have a busy schedule, I am more energized for it! If staying off your phone for 30 minutes at night can increase your workout performance and energy the next day, I’d say it is worth it!
By: Brittany Knoch
Brittany is just finishing up her internship and her senior year at Malone University. She plans to start her professional career in fitness at Impulse Training as well as continue coaching Tennis at Perry High School. We are excited for to join our team.
