Welcome to the Get Fit Guys quick and dirty tips to get moving and shape up.

My name is Brock Armstrong and I am the Get Fit Guy.

If you're not sleeping well, you may not be reaching your life's goals, let alone your fitness goals.

So today we are going to talk about some proven ways to get better sleep. In past episodes

of Get Fit Guy, I've brought up the importance of rest and recovery. Well, let's say more than a few

times. And if you do a quick search on the Quick and Dirty Tips website, you can easily find

them and I encourage you to do so. You know, I've even interviewed the inventor of a device that specifically measures your recovery

based on how well you have slept in comparison to how hard you've worked out.

But despite my best efforts as a podcaster, a blogger, and a coach,

well, sleep still remains an elusive and often overlooked aspect

of fitness. So all right, let's start with how much sleep we actually need. Way back in 2014,

the Wall Street Journal reported that seven is the new eight, explaining that our bodies may need less sleep than what we traditionally

have been told. But what the Wall Street Journal failed to mention is the increased need for sleep

in people who are exercising frequently, tearing down their muscle fibers with weight training,

running, or cycling,

or even engaging in cognitively demanding tasks, and yes, a stressful workday counts.

If you are interested in having solid and consistent mental and physical performance,

good sleep should be on the top of your list.

If you go over to getfitguy.quickanddirtytips.com and you find this article,

I link to an infographic from another article on a website called Fatigue Science,

and the infographic is called Why Pro Athletes Sleep 12 Hours a Day, and it's for us fit folks who regularly engage

in this type of body and brain stress. Now, here are just a few highlights from that infographic.

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