Sleeping for Performance with Matt Carter

I’m surprised by how much I didn’t know about sleep.

I mean, I’ve done it a lot, sure.

I for sure have earned my 10,000 hours – I’m should be a sleep expert!

So far from the truth.

Yeah, I’ll invest 1/3 of my life sleeping, but it’s insane to me that I’ve learned very little about the subject.

Not too long ago, I heard about LeBron James secret to high-performance is getting GREAT sleep.

Not more free throws.

Not more affirmations.

Not better coaching.

It’s sleep.

I use to view sleep as the thing I did when I wasn’t being productive, but now…

I know that sleep is my key to productivity.

Arguably, by body is being super productive while I’m in la-la land.

It’s working through the night to repair, strengthen and build – so I can rock it out the next day.

I believe that life is about charging hard.

But I used to see that as something I did during the day.

Now I know, it’s about charging hard during the day and allowing my body to charge “the batteries” at night.

I’ve been tracking my sleep with my Oura ring, and each day playing close attention to what’s helping (or hurting) my sleep cycles.

Lately, I’ve been feeling SOOOO much better.

Let me back up for a minute.

Why did I start putting so much focus on sleep?

Last year, some blood work indicated a few areas where my body was breaking down.

My iron was low, and hemoglobin counts were off.

My doctor said, “You might have some type of internal bleed.”

WTF!

I was taken back by the news.

I immediately began a quest to learn more about how my body heals itself – which quickly leads you to the sleep topic.

There is so much info out there, but all roads seem to point back to getting a great night sleep being one of the most important elements to ultimate health.

Over the past several months, I’ve been watching videos about sleep – anything from how to fall asleep, the importance of sleep quality, the difference between REM and deep sleep, etc.

In my research, I found Dr. Matt Carter’s TEDx talk and knew we needed to chat further.

Hence this show.

A bit more about Matt.

At Williams College, he is an Associate Professor of Biology where his lab studies how the brain regulates food intake and sleep.

His research is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

He received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Stanford University.

He received the Nelson Bushnell Award for Excellence in Teaching and Writing from Williams College, the Walter Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching from Stanford University and the Young Investigator Award from the Sleep Research Society.

He lives in Williamstown with his wife and two children.

Enjoy the show fellas!

 

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