As a personal trainer and dog dad- I typically get a lot of steps in the day...
When I'm at home.
Now, on the road- I'm not seeing clients in person.
I'm not on my feet for hours at a time walking around a gym.
And on driving days I sit down for many hours more than normal.
A lot of the time I still get quite a few steps- My average has actually increased while on the road.
BUT!
On the driving days I wind up with thousands of less steps.
And I've noticed quite a difference in sleep quality on those days...
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Sleep requires two things...
- The brains need for sleep
- The bodies urge to sleep
Most of us get the brains need for sleep.
The brain does a whole lot of stuff throughout the day...
(Imagine how much energy it must take to filter your snarky thoughts!)
And after a day of work it needs a bath- which is kinda what sleep does.
It cleanses our brain.
But you know how if you didn't do much during the day and don't feel like you really need a shower you might just kinda "rinse off".
(This is especially true for my wife and I camping cause we don't always have a ton of water access.)
Well if the brain doesn't really feel dirty it won't have as much reason to clean up.
And that's where the bodies urge to sleep comes in.
When our bodies move, literally to do anything- we burn ATP (Energy)
Burning ATP as energy creates waste.
That waste is noticed by the brain and when it builds up enough we are urged to feel sleepy.
And Total Daily Movement will have a big effect on how much ATP we use.
AKA- Steps!!
Steps are really useful for a lot of different things- Better Sleep is included on that list.
And don't you think you'd be a better human if you had better sleep?
So your Quest of The Week is to...
Try to get 2000 extra steps (or more) at least one day this week.
If you have no way to track steps- just spend an extra 20 minutes moving around in some way.
- Walking
- Dancing
- Hula Hooping
Etc.
It may just make you a better human 😉
