Circadian Rhythm 101
Circadian rhythm is not just an obscure concept; it is the natural 24-hour cycle that regulates/influences almost every physiological process, and is literally ingrained in the genetic code of every cell in your body. An optimized circadian rhythm is utterly crucial for overall health and well-being. Here are some quick strategies to optimize circadian rhythm health.
Stick to a regular sleep schedule: Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day (+/- 30mins), even on weekends, is one of the most important regulators of circadian rhythm.
Dial in and Control Light Exposure: Exposure to natural light across the day is a massive regulator of circadian rhythm. Most importantly, you need to get unobstructed natural light into your eyes within the first two hours of waking; do NOT look directly at the sun, or view light in a way that hurts your eyes at all. Without sunglasses on, and not through windows, view sunlight for 5-10 mins on a sunny morning, and 20-30 mins on a cloudy morning. Make sure you are looking towards where the sun it, but not directly at it - the light must be entering your eyes for maximum effectiveness. If you are up before the sun, turn on every light in your house as bright as they will go. This is a distant second best, but better than nothing, and you will still want to get outside when the sun comes up too. At the other end of the day, within 90-120mins of bedtime, limit light exposure as much as possible by turning off all overhead lights in your home. Use the minimum amount of light required to see safely.
Caffeine Intake: Limit intake and avoid consuming within 8-12 hours preceding your bedtime.
Food Timing: Consistent feeding times will significantly stabilize your circadian rhythm. The most important component here is your first and last bite of food each day, and having them at the same time (+/- 30-45mins). But, ideally, you would have the same meal times for each meal, and not snack between meals unless it is something you do consistently at the same time each day. This may seem trivial, but is not. Avoid anything except for water for the 90-120 minutes before your usual bedtime.
Exercise Timing: Regular exercise will help regulate circadian rhythm and improve sleep quality. As best you can, try to make your workout times consistent from day to day.
Incorporate cold exposure: Cold exposure, such as taking cold showers or, preferably, immersing in cold water, will help regulate circadian rhythm. Cold exposure stimulates hormone production (e.g. norepinephrine, cortisol) which help regulate the circadian rhythm. This is best implemented in the first 8 hours of your day after waking. Do not use cold exposure in the 2 hours prior to bedtime. Doing this at the same time each day will also increase effectiveness.
Temperature and Circadian Rhythm
Temperature plays an important role in regulating the circadian rhythm. Exposure to colder temperatures can help reset the body's internal clock, while exposure to warmer temperatures can help promote relaxation and sleep. Cold exposure, such as taking cold showers or immersing in cold water, can stimulate the production of hormones that help regulate the circadian rhythm. Heat exposure, such as taking a warm bath or sauna, can help promote relaxation and improve sleep quality. By incorporating both cold and heat exposure into your daily routine, you can help solidify your circadian rhythm and improve your overall health and well-being.
Your body temperature fluctuates 1-4 degrees across the 24 hour period. A sharp rise in body temperature brings you out of sleep and into wakefulness in the AM, and a 1-3 degree drop from the afternoon until bedtime is one of the primary signals to your body that it is bedtime. Deliberate temperature exposure will have the opposite effect on your core body temp. Using cold exposure will stimulate your body to heat up, leading to an increase in body temperature that results in more alertness. Heat exposure, like sauna or a warm bath, will trigger cooling down mechanisms to drop your body temperature, prompting sleepiness.
Cold exposure: Cold exposure is beneficial for tons of things, one of which being resetting/solidifying the circadian rhythm and promoting alertness during the day. One way to incorporate cold exposure is by taking a cold shower or immersing yourself in cold water for a few minutes in the morning. This will stimulate the production of hormones, such as norepinephrine and cortisol, which help regulate the circadian rhythm. It's important to avoid cold exposure before bedtime, as it can interfere with sleep.
Sauna/Heat exposure: Heat exposure can be beneficial for promoting relaxation and improving sleep quality. One way to incorporate heat exposure is by taking a warm bath or using a sauna before bedtime, ideally two-ish hours before sleep time. This will promote relaxation and reduce stress, which can improve sleep quality. It's important to avoid excessive heat exposure during the day and in the morning, as it can interfere with alertness and productivity.
Timing: The timing of cold and heat exposure is important for optimizing circadian rhythm health. Cold exposure should be done during the day, preferably in the morning, to promote alertness and stimulate the natural bump in AM cortisol to stabilize circadian rhythm. Heat exposure should be done in the evening, before bedtime, to promote relaxation and improve sleep quality. However, it's important to avoid excessive temperature extremes, especially right before bedtime, as this can interfere with sleep quality and circadian rhythm health.
Post- Workout Downregulation Breathing
Downregulation breathing is a simple yet powerful technique that will help you recover from a workout faster, reduce stress and anxiety, and improve your overall well-being. Here are some benefits of downregulation breathing and how to use it after your workout:
Pertinent Benefits:
Enhances recovery: During a workout, your body enters high arousal, sympathetic nervous system state (as it should). However, this is not a state you want to be in chronically all day after your workout. The sooner you can flip your body into a recovery, parasympathetic state, the sooner your body can begin to recover from the workout.
Reduces cortisol levels: Downregulation breathing triggers the relaxation response, which helps to lower cortisol levels in the body. Cortisol is a normal, healthy stress hormone, but can be problematic when produced in excess, so reducing its levels can have many health benefits.
Promotes relaxation: By slowing down your breathing and focusing on deep, diaphragmatic breaths, you can induce a state of relaxation and calmness in your body.
How to use downregulation breathing after a workout:
Find a quiet and comfortable space where you won't be disturbed. Your car works great, as it is best to do this practice as close as possible to your workout.
Sit or lie down in a comfortable position.
Take a few deep breaths, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your nose or mouth. Focus on breathing down into your belly and diaphragm. Your shoulders should not elevate.
Close your eyes and slow down your breathing. Inhale for a count of 4, hold for a count of 2, and exhale for a count of at least 6, but the longer your exhale the better. It will be challenging at first, because your body is going to be in a sympathetic state post-workout.
The longer you can do this the better, but even a couple minutes will have a positive effect. Focus on the sensation of your breath and letting go of any tension or stress in your body on your exhales.
Once you notice that you are having an easier and easier time extending the duration of the exhale, and have had an easier time for a couple minutes, you know you have flipped yourself into a downregulated state, and you can get on with your day!
General Breathing Guidelines
Breathing is an extremely underappreciated component of overall health and wellness. It is one of the very few gateways we have into what is called our autonomic nervous system, allowing us to control our level of fight-or-flight vs. rest-and-digest (sympathetic vs. parasympathetic) nervous system activity. You can increase or decrease things like stress, focus, relaxation, recovery, sleep, and more by learning how to control your breath. In general:
breathing counts where your inhale lasts longer than your exhale will increase arousal states, leading to more focus, attention, energy, elevated heart rate, and so on (bias sympathetic)
breathing counts where your exhale lasts longer than your inhale will promote relaxation, recovery, sleep, lower heart rate, and so on (bias parasympathetic)
YOU SHOULD BREATHE THROUGH YOUR MOUTH ABOUT AS OFTEN AS YOU EAT THROUGH YOUR NOSE. So, basically never, except in high output workouts.
breathing in through your nose filters, humidifies, and warms the air as it enters your body. It also helps distribute nitric oxide into the blood, which dilates blood vessels and lowers blood pressure
breathing in through your mouth will dehydrate you, get you less oxygen per breath, allow irritants into the system, and is generally associated with loads of negative symptoms like brain fog, anxiety, and all that nasty stuff
I highly recommend reading the following books to illustrate just how powerful breathing can be for you, and/or listening to podcasts by the authors:
Breath by James Nestor (easier read)
The Oxygen Advantage by Patrick McKeown
General Breath Protocol to Incorporate
Box Breathing - inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4, repeat (can be done with any number. Whatever number feels slightly challenging but not so challenging you can't repeat the practice for a few minutes)
The Importance of Sleep to Your Membership
Gone are the days of “sleep when I’m dead.” We know now that sleep is the foundation to all things mental/emotional health, physical health, and performance.
When engaging in strength training, your performance and recovery are highly dependent on getting the proper quality and quantity of sleep. Sleep, along with exercise, is one of the few panaceas out there, regulating everything from blood sugar management, metabolism efficiency, mood and cognitive functions, physical and mental recovery, the adaptation process, and so much more. If you aren't sleeping enough/well enough, your membership investment will be less likely to produce the results you want.
(Some) Benefits of Sleep for Strength Training Performance and Recovery:
1. Increased Muscle Recovery: During sleep, your body produces growth hormone, which plays a crucial role in repairing and rebuilding muscle tissue after strength training workouts. Sleep is basically the only time your body actually recovers from the strains of the day, aside from deep meditative states. Without it, you won't recover, and therefore will see your performance spiral downwards.
2. Improved Cognitive Function: Sleep helps to restore brain function and improve concentration, memory, and reaction time, which can all positively impact strength training performance.
3. Decreased Inflammation: Lack of sleep will increase chronic inflammation in the body, which will negatively impact muscle recovery and lead to decreased strength training performance. Inflammation locally around muscles should be part of the growth and adaptation process, but only if your body is able to properly recover during sleep.
4. Increased Energy Levels and Mood: Adequate sleep provides the energy necessary to perform at your best during strength training sessions. Proper quality and quantity of sleep will positively impact your mood, helping to reduce stress and anxiety, which can ultimately improve strength training performance.
Strategies to Improve Sleep for Strength Training Performance and Recovery:
I have spent LOTS of time researching sleep optimization, so please ask me if you have any questions on maximizing your sleep hygiene. There is a page in this database called “improve your sleep” where you will find my long winded videos teaching you all about sleep, how it works, how to improve it, and much more in probably too much detail. But, here are some quick hits.
Stick to a Consistent Sleep Schedule: Going to bed and waking up at the same time EVERY day (within 30-45mins) will help solidify your body's circadian rhythm, improving sleep quality and duration.
Create a “Sleep Sanctuary”: Make sure your bedroom is cool, quiet, and free of distractions, such as electronic devices, to help promote restful sleep. Bedrooms are for only two things, and they both start with S.
Curfews for Food, Caffeine and Alcohol Intake: Try not to ingest anything with caffeine in the 8-12 hours preceding your bedtime. Alcohol within the 4-6 hours before bedtime will be especially detrimental to sleep quality. Try to make your last calorie consumption at least 90 mins before bedtime, ideally 2 hours or more.
Limit Light Exposure: During the 60-120 minutes before bedtime, you want the MINIMUM amount of light in your environment required to safely see. Which is less than you are probably using, and less than you think you need. Using light dimmers in your home, task lighting to read a book instead of overhead light, and the obvious limitation of screen usage during that time is of paramount importance. Blue light blockers can be helpful, but need to have yellow lenses or darker
Establish a Relaxing Bedtime Routine: Engage in activities that promote relaxation and help you wind down before bed in the 60-120 minutes before sleep time, such as reading, taking a warm bath, mediating and/or implementing downregulation breathing. Avoid things that result in a high arousal state and elevate heart rate.
Consider Supplements: Supplements makeup maybe 10% of the sleep equation. However, certain supplements, such as magnesium (glycinate, bisglycinate, and threonate are the most effective magnesium compounds for sleep), apigenin (active ingredient in chamomile), L-theanine, and others, may be helpful in improving sleep quality and duration. NOT melatonin! However, it's important to talk to your healthcare professional before starting any supplement regimen, as there may be interactions with conditions you have, or medications you take.
