Gabriel Hernandez

Is Your Bed Gassy?

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I know silly question right? How can my mattress possibly be gassy since it can’t eat beans or cabbage?

Obviously that is not the gas I am referring to.

The “gas” released from your mattress which I am referring to should be cause for concern.

Not the type of concern that makes you paranoid and having you feel you should live in a bubble.

But, the type that should pique your interest and cause you to look further into this matter.

There are 3 questions I want to answer as it pertains to mattress Off-gassing.

The first, “what does off-gassing mean?”

The second, “where are the chemicals in a mattress found?”

And lastly, “How can you limit your exposure to the off-gassing of your mattress?”

What is off-gassing?

Simply put, off-gassing is the release of chemicals and toxins in the form of a gas.

Have you ever been in a room that was recently painted?

Well, that nasty smell you are breathing that is causing you to feel nauseous and dizzy is the off gassing of toxic chemicals from the paint.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know breathing in those fumes can be detrimental to your health.

So paint is an obvious culprit when it comes to off gassing. But what about your mattress?

What most people don’t realize is the majority of mattresses manufactured today are made with harmful chemicals.

So where are the chemicals hiding in your mattress?

The chemicals which are known as Volatile Organic Compounds (or VOCs) can be found in the foam, the fire retardant, or the adhesive used to glue the inside of the mattress.

The most common material used in mattresses today is polyurethane foam.

Whether it be traditional foam or memory foam, they are both Polyurethane foam.

However, memory foam has added chemicals to enhance its elasticity and viscosity.

I know big and confusing words but the chemicals are added to give it that slow response.

Polyurethane foam contains chemicals such as Toluene Diisocyanite which has been known to significantly increase incidences of tumors in the pancreas, liver, and mammary glands during animal testing.

Other common chemicals are Benzene (known Carcinogen) Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether (PBDE) known to cause cancer and thyroid problems and happens to be banned by the European Union.

These are just some of the chemicals in polyurethane foam.

And then you have the fire retardants.

Most major manufacturers don’t disclose what is in their fire retardant because they consider it a proprietary trade secret.

Trade secret…. yeah sure “trade secret.” Common chemicals in fire retardants are Boric Acid , Antimony and Decabromodiphenyl Oxide.

How can you limit exposure to the off gassing of your mattress?
In order to limit your exposure to these harmful chemicals the best solution is to avoid buying a mattress that use these toxic ingredients.

For instance, instead of buying a mattress with polyurethane foam, opt for an all natural-latex mattress or a mattress that uses organic cotton in the comfort layer instead of polyurethane foam.

Also, avoid a mattress that uses chemical fire retardants.

Your mattress can still be fire safe by using all-natural wool as the fire barrier or having the inner part of the mattress wrapped in a kevlar sock.

If it’s too late and you already bought a mattress with these harmful chemicals and the smell is unbearable then a good way to get rid of the odor is let the mattress sit outside under the sun’s rays for a few hours.

If you can’t get the mattress outside, open all the windows to the bedroom and remove all bed sheets and get it as close to direct sunlight as possible.

This solution is more for odor control and doesn’t completely eliminate those harmful chemicals already in the mattress.

If you have found this info helpful and are now paranoid on what you are sleeping on please click the share button below. Because we all know it’s not fun being paranoid alone.

 

Consumer Reports Take On Choosing The Right Mattress

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Choosing the right mattress is important. However, it is not all that easy to do.

The team at Consumer Reports created some tips on how to choose the right mattress. It’s not about falling for the fancy terms used by mattress retailers. It’s about trying and testing them out for yourself.

They explain it here in this 3 minute video.

Here’s my take on this:

Before you head out mattress shopping do a little research. While it is true the big box retailers have insane markups, not all mattress retailers inflate their prices.

Also, find out about the quality of the materials used in the mattress. For instance:

  • What is the density of the foam used? 1.5lb polyfoam and below is lesser quality than a foam 1.8lb and above.
  • Are any of the materials all-natural? If you are sensitive to chemicals or you just want to sleep on a bed that will limit the amount of toxins you breathe in then you may want to consider an all-natural mattress.
  • What type of innersprings are used? You can find out about the different types of innerspring mattresses here.

Consider Consumer Report’s advice when mattress shopping and take your time. Don’t rush when you are testing out the mattresses since a good night’s sleep plays an important role in your productivity.

If you need some more help on your mattress shopping journey we created a free guide you can download. Just click on the image below to get it.

Mattress Shopping Guide

Oh and one more thing… did you notice them say our name at 1.47? I know they weren’t actually talking about us but I just like to hear our name being used ;).

Mattress Sales Gimmicks

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Untitled design

We have talked before how hard it is to go mattress shopping and how it can be such a daunting task.

In previous articles we focused more on the buying process of the consumer such as choosing the right firmness and the importance of the quality of materials in a mattress.

This one is a little different. In our industry there has been a lot of shady selling techniques.

It can be embarrassing because people associate mattress salesman as your stereotypical used car salesman (if you are a used car salesman and are honest and transparent with your customers then kudos to you but you know that label people put on you).

We have come up with 5 common sales gimmicks mattress salesman and stores use to get the public to buy.

The Mattress Name Game

Have you ever noticed how almost every mattress retailer guarantees to have the lowest prices?

How can they guarantee you will pay less at their store as opposed to another retailer?

Simple.

They know that the other retailer down the street does not carry the same mattress name in their store.

The reason is because mattress manufacturers give each retailer a different name for the same mattress.

This is done to confuse the shopper and make it down right near impossible to compare prices from one retailer to the other.

So when you are doing your mattress shopping, make sure you take note of the specs of the mattress because that is how you can compare one model to the next.

Buying A “New” Used Mattress

As with every retailer returns are to be expected.

The problem with that is some mattress stores will clean them up and re-bag the mattress and sell them as floor models

This one is a bit tougher to distinguish but make sure when you do buy your mattress to inspect it for unusual wear, odor, and stains.

Also, if you do buy a floor model make sure a=you ask the sales associate if it was return that was converted to a floor model.

If you type in “selling used beds” on YouTube you can find videos of large companies employing this tactic.

It’s quite the eye opener.

If you’re tired of all the mattress sales shenanigans from mattress salesman click here to download our free mattress shopping guide to become a mattress and sleep expert

Huge Sale 50% Off

Who doesn’t like to shop when stores are offering 50% off?

Mattress retailers know this gimmick drives in traffic and that’s why these types of ads are run all the time.

So how does this work?

Before the “big sale” happens they make sure their mattresses that are going to be marked down are priced double than what they normally would be and then they take 50% off.

So they are selling you the bed what they would have sold you on a regular day but now you feel like you just got a really killer deal.

Here is a good video explaining these shenanigans.

A Mattress Doubles In Weight Every 10 Years

I have heard this one multiple times by those in the industry as well as from customers repeating what the salesman told them.

They say this is caused by the dead skin from our body as well as the natural oils from our body seeping into the mattress.

We have done tons of deliveries and picked up countless old mattresses from customers some being 30+ years old.

We have not once picked up an old mattress from a customer’s house and noticed it was an abnormal weight.

So if the salesman uses this tactic I suggest you be courteous and laugh at his or her joke and shake their hand and walk out the door.

Extra Shipment From The Supplier

This one gets used from time to time when the customer is negotiating for a lower price.

The salesman will look around the store or say quietly, “We just got an extra supply by mistake from our distributor and because of that I can give you X% off.

This is a story they are creating for you to make you feel like today is your lucky day.

But in all actuality they do have wiggle room in their price because their mattresses have been marked up so high.

So if you have been a victim to one of these sales tactics please let us know in the comments below.

Also, be a good guy and share this article with your friends.

Because we all know sharing is caring.

 

5 Tips To Finding The Right Mattress

13 Things About Sleep You May Not Have Known

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sleepy bear

Sleep is wonderful. I have never met a person who did not like sleep.

Wait a minute, I take that back, my 1.5 year old and 3 year old daughters don’t like sleep but I think it’s just a phase they are going through.

And now that I have kids I have much more respect for sleep.

Being that I love sleep so much I thought it would be neat to share 13 little sleep facts you may not have know.

1)  Humans spend a third of their life sleeping. That comes out to be around 25 years. (No wonder why it’s so important to invest in a high quality mattress).

2)  Parents of new babies miss out on 6 months of sleep in the first 2 years of their child’s life.

3)  Sleeping less than 7 hours each night can affect your performance during the day. (The average adult need between 7.5-9 hours of sleep each night).

4)  Lack of sleep can cause weight gain of 2 pounds in under a week.

5)  A snail can sleep for 3 years.

6)  It’s impossible to sneeze while you sleep.

7)  Sleeping on the job is acceptable in Japan as it is seen as a sign of commitment and hard work (that’s what I have been telling my two brothers Pablo and Sam when I’m sleeping in the mattress store).

8)  Half of British pilots admit to falling asleep in the cockpit. (I will definitely not be flying on British Airways anytime soon).

9)  Exercising regularly makes it easier to fall asleep and contributes to sounder sleep as long as it is not right before going to bed.

10)  Sleep is just as important as diet and exercise

11)  Some deaf people make sign language in their sleep.

12)  Dysania is the state of finding it hard to get out of bed in the morning (so when you are late to work just tell your boss you have been diagnosed with Dysania).

13)  Before alarm clocks were invented there were “knocker-ups” who went tapping on client’s windows with long sticks until they were awake (I wonder who woke up the “knocker-ups”).

If you thought this was interesting and you learned something new, please like and share with your pals as I am sure they would like to know these random facts on sleep too.

Or if you want to be that guy or gal at the party who knows and blurts out random information you probably won’t want to share this with them since this will be old news to them.

In that case write us a comment and tell us you like it since we have this deep need of being liked ;).

You Snooze, You Lose…How Your Snooze Button Is Killing Your Sleep And Productivity

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Snooze

It’s 6am Monday morning and you wake up to one of the most awful sounds ever known to mankind, the dreaded alarm clock.

You roll over and hit the snooze button telling yourself an extra 9 minutes of sleep is going to make getting out of bed so much easier.

Then comes that horrible sound again, and without fail you hit that snooze button for another 9 minutes of sleep feeling even worse than before.

After the second or third round of hitting the snooze button you finally get up to avoid being late for work which catapults you into reactive mode rather than proactive mode.

Why do we let ourselves be a slave to the snooze button?

I swear every morning when the alarm goes off the first thought in my mind is if I hit the snooze button those 9 extra minutes is all I need to feel refreshed.

But what happens?

Those 9 minutes ends up turning into 27 minutes and now I rush to work mode.

Does this ever happen to you?

One survey found that more than ⅓ of Americans have fallen prey to the snooze button.

What’s more alarming (no pun intended) is more than half of people between the ages of 25-34 have fallen into the curse of the snooze button.

So, other than getting us off to a late start, why is it bad to hit the snooze button?

When we wake up to an alarm clock then hit the snooze button several times, each of those mini sleep sessions are very low quality sleep.

Those little sleep sessions end up throwing us off our regular sleep schedule.

When we are on a regular sleep schedule our body will naturally prepare itself to wake up at the proper time.

It starts this approximately an hour or two before us waking.

How so?

During this time our body starts to increase our body temperature and releases the proper chemicals to aide in waking up.

When we hit the snooze button and fall back asleep we are telling our body that it was a false alarm so it stops the process of waking up.

Then when we do it a second time we’ve completely confused our brain and body by disrupting our internal clock resulting in that groggy fuzzy feeling called sleep inertia.

Sleep inertia can last for several hours after waking up and studies have shown that a person loses performance and cognitive skills due to a lack of quality sleep.

We’re also training our body mentally and physically to be in both a reactive state and passive state.

Rather than being productive and proactive we begin our day by procrastinating the very first thing in the morning, which is waking up.

Now that you understand what is happening every time we hit the snooze button, let’s work towards breaking that habit and improving our sleep as a whole.

First, start by committing to getting on a regular sleep schedule by going to bed and waking up at the same time each day, and yes, that includes weekends.

Second, if going cold turkey without the snooze button is too difficult, try limiting yourself to one snooze each morning and from there move towards not snoozing all together.

Third, once your alarm goes off get yourself up out of bed and expose yourself to sun or light.

Fourth, a bonus, remove the alarm clock totally and allow your body to wake up on its own when it’s done sleeping.

Don’t think it can be done see the proof right here.

Hopefully this article helped you understand how to improve your sleep and productivity in a small way. If it did, feel free to share it with a friend or leave a comment.

 

References

i.https://greatist.com/happiness/snooze-button-bad-for-sleep

ii.https://www.cnn.com/2014/02/06/health/upwave-snooze-button/

iii. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/01/why-hitting-snooze-is-bad-for-health_n_5630707.html

iv. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/01/why-hitting-snooze-is-bad-for-health_n_5630707.html

What To Remove From Your Room Right Now For Better Sleep

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Sleep Meme

We have become a people consumed with media.

Whether it be our TV, our smart phone, or our tablet, we are like the Depeche Mode we just can’t get enough.

The problem with this is it has started to affect our quality of sleep.

In order for us to get the most out of our sleep, I am going to reveal the number one item that is in the majority of our bedrooms that we must remove right this instant to maximize our sleep quality.

Drum roll please………

Our television.

This should be a no brainer, however according to a national consumer study, nearly two-thirds of Americans fall asleep with the TV on.

This is insane!

We have become so attached to our TVs that the average household has more TVs than people residing in their home.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we need to throw out our TVs all together because I too enjoy watching the latest episode of The Walking Dead.

However, what I am saying is let’s enjoy our TV but not in the comfort of our bedrooms.

Our bedroom should only be for sleeping and connecting with our spouse (wink, wink).

There was a study done on two types of couples, those that have a TV in their bedroom and those that don’t have a TV in their bedroom.

It was discovered those that do have a TV in their room have sex half as often as those who don’t.

With that said, I now rest my case.

But wait there’s more.

Our TVs emit a blue light that tricks our brains into thinking it is day rather than night which in turn suppresses our bodies’ natural secretion of melatonin which is our sleep hormone.

By suppressing the production of melatonin it also throws off our circadian rhythm.

Whoa hang on there, you’re talking mumbo jumbo to me.

Let me explain.

Our circadian biological clock regulates the timing of periods of sleepiness and wakefulness throughout the day.

So, watching TV just before bedtime hinders our sleep because light is the main cue influencing our circadian rhythm, and this is turning on or turning off genes that control our organism’s internal clock.

Basically the artificial light from the TV over stimulates our brains tricking it to think it is day time.

Now let’s do a quick recap why having a TV in our bedroom is bad news.

1)  By having a TV in our room it leads to less sex with our spouse.

2) It throws off our sleep cycle confusing our brain into thinking it is day rather than night.

Hopefully this article has been helpful for you improving not only your sleep but also your relationship with your spouse.

If you have taken action removing your TV from your bedroom please let us know in the comments below as we would love to hear the wonders it has done helping you improve your sleep.

 

 

Coffee and Sleep… It’s A Love Hate Relationship

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coffee heart

Yaaawn…

You finally begin to wake up after hitting the snooze button one too many times and all you can think of is you need coffee NOW!

So, you stumble to the kitchen and pick out your favorite coffee and begin brewing.

Just the smell of your favorite coffee beans gives you a nice kickstart to your day and begins to give you hope that everything will be o.k.

The fresh pot of coffee is now nice and hot and the beautiful aroma of your freshly brewed Fair Trade coffee is now ready to be poured into your favorite mug.

You take a quick sniff just before you are about to take a sip and immediately a smile forms on your face, the first smile of the day because in that moment you feel like you are in heaven.

After a couple cups of fresh joe you’re ready to take on the day!

Nothing can stop you, because today you are going to change the world!

However, 2pm comes around and all that gusto to change the world has left you and you’re ready to crash right there on your desk.

So what do you do?

Well, if you’re like the almost 50% percent of americans then you have yourself another cup of coffee to give you that ”pick me up” you so desperately need.

So you drink a few more cups of coffee and now you’re set to finish your work day off strong.

But not so fast.

Because before you know it bedtime comes and you can’t seem to fall asleep.

You have this restless feeling and stay up all night tossing and turning before you finally drift to sleep.

Come the next morning you again struggle to get out of bed and wake up fully until you have your morning coffee.

This carries you to lunch and then of course you drink a couple more cups to get you through the rest of the day.

This now becomes the story of your life.

A vicious cycle has been created and if you are going to make it through the day you not only need coffee in the morning but also in the afternoon followed by more restless nights.

What’s happening here?

Coffee and sleep… it truly is a love hate relationship.

Did you know that the caffeine in coffee has a half life of about 6 hours?

That means that even after 6 hours of drinking coffee you still have half the amount of caffeine circulating in your body.

So when you drink that cup of coffee after 2pm by the time you go to bed there’s still at least half of the caffeine still running through your system.

How do you fix this?

Give yourself a coffee curfew.Try and stop drinking coffee after 12:00 p.m.

This may be difficult to begin with but as you wean yourself off the afternoon coffee you’ll set yourself up for success in the evening when it’s time for bed.

This can help your body to get on a regular sleep schedule which would help avoid that groggy feeling in the morning and the change in mood swings during the day.

No, I am not telling you to get rid of coffee all together because as you will see coffee can be a useful tool.

There are many health benefits to drinking coffee and as long as we respect the effects it can have on our body we can maximize the benefits.

Studies on drinking coffee regularly has shown that it can help lower the risk of type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s, liver cancer, liver disease, and may also help ease strain on the heart.

If you would like to read in more detail on how coffee can protect against these diseases I have included the sources at the bottom of this page.

Drinking coffee can also help improve your brain power.

The caffeine in the coffee acts as a brain stimulant and can help you think more freely. It achieves this by blocking the activity of adenosine which is a neurotransmitter that affects almost every bodily function.

By blocking adenosine, caffeine actually releases other neurotransmitters in the brain called dopamine and norepinephrine which help regulates our mood and behavior.

So here’s how sleep and coffee can be a very good dynamic duo.

First try to stop drinking coffee after lunch.

Then give yourself a good night sleep and after waking up feeling rested give yourself your favorite cup of joe to turn on your brain making you more productive and allowing your mind to think more clearly.

And if you want an extra boost with your coffee then try bullet proof coffee.

These changes aren’t difficult to make it just takes a little discipline.

And hopefully after reading this you’ll learn to use coffee and sleep to work together rather than against each other.

If you learned something reading this let us know by writing us a comment below we’d love to connect with you.

Or if you have tips on how you use coffee without the negative side effects we would love to hear from you.

 

References

i.https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/247583.php

ii.https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/270202.php

iii. https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/caffeine-and-sleep

iv.https://www.webmd.com/heart/news/20131120/does-caffeine-in-coffee-perk-up-heart-health

v.https://worldofcaffeine.com/caffeine-and-neurotransmitters/

Finding The Best Mattress For Couples

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Bed Cartography

The group of people who have the toughest time shopping for a mattress is couples.

They not only have to get the comfort level right for each partner but there are two other big factors they must consider in order to have a great night sleep.

I am going to go over the two issues they face when shopping for a mattress and give my recommendations to help point them in the right direction.

     Go big or go home!

If you share a bed with your significant other always choose a king size mattress.

Even if it takes up the whole room.

For ten years my wife and I slept on a queen size mattress and when we finally upgraded to a king size we were instantly on cloud nine.

Sharing a queen size bed with someone only gives you 30 inches of personal sleeping space, which is 8 inches less than a twin size mattress.

Yikes!

And if you and your spouse are sharing a full size mattress then you each have about the same sleeping space as the width of a crib size mattress.

I’m sure you don’t want to literally sleep like a baby.

So rule number 1 always opt for a king size when you are sharing your bed.

     Motion creates emotion.

You may have heard Tony Robbins say that just before he got you fired up and ready to take on the world but it’s true.

It’s true in life and it’s true in bedding.

If you have ever been woken up by your significant other because of their tossing and turning causing the whole bed to shake, then you know very well their motion has stirred up a whole lot of unhappy emotions with you.

If this is an issue for you (which it is for most couples who share a bed) then your choice of mattress should either be a memory foam mattress, a latex mattress, or a pocketed coil mattress.

A memory foam mattress provides the least amount of motion transfer, which is then followed by latex and then followed by a pocketed coil mattress.

My wife and I used to own pocketed coil mattress and although we couldn’t feel each little movement one another made we were able to tell when the other got out of bed.

When we upgraded our mattress to a latex mattress we could no longer feel the other getting in and out of bed.

Each of these three types of mattresses will do a good job of separating the motion so it will be up to you to find out which is most comfortable to you.

If you can think of any other issues couples face when shopping for a mattress leave them in the comment section below as we would love to help you out.

The 3rd Pillar Of Health

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DSC_0941 Hey! It’s the New Year, which means a new you.

You have written new goals and on the top of the list, if you’re like most Americans is to get healthy!

I’m sure you’ve signed up for that gym pass promising yourself you’ll be good this time and will workout every day.

No longer will you give up on your resolution in February because this is your year.

In fact, you probably bought a juicer and stocked up on bags of organic kale and spinach.

However, what most people don’t realize is just working out and eating healthy won’t get you to your optimum health.

You may be able to reach your goal by just sticking to the two but it will take longer.

You can eat all the kale salads and drink all the wheatgrass shots you want but missing this key piece can make it tougher for you to get there.

Which means another year of being weighed down by constant fatigue or not being able to enjoy the great outdoors.

Or better yet, being stuck in a gym contract because you gave up too soon due to the extremely slow results.

You see, most people when they talk about getting healthy they only focus on two components to the formula for health.

What are they?

Diet and exercise.

But there’s more to the complete health puzzle and a vital piece is missing.

So what is this missing piece? What is this “so called” 3rd pillar of health?

Well, to give you a hint we spend a third of our lives doing this every single night.

Yup, you guessed it, it’s sleep.

Sleep is the 3rd pillar of health and it may be the missing piece to your getting healthy mishap.

So why is sleep so important and considered the 3rd pillar of health?

Here are a couple amazing benefits of the power of sleep.

Physical Benefits

Sleep is vital to our physical health. Duh no brainer right?

But how you feel when you’re awake depends a whole lot on what happens when you’re asleep.

You see, while you’re sleeping your body is at work repairing your muscles from exercise or just from the wear and tear the day brings.

Without giving our body the sleep it needs we hinder our body’s natural process of repairing our achy muscles.

Sleep is also connected to our eating habits.

I’m about to get a little scientific and use some weird words on you so please stay with me.

Getting good quality sleep helps us maintain a healthy balance of our hormones ghrelin (which makes us feel hungry) and leptin (which makes us feel full).

When we don’t get good quality sleep our ghrelin levels go up (causing us to feel hungry) and our leptin levels go down (leaving our stomachs feeling less satisfied).

So our constant hungry belly and late night munchies can be attributed to poor sleeping habits.

A study done by the University of Chicago showed that healthy adults when restricted to just 4 hours of sleep per night for a week some showed to have insulin and glucose characteristics to that of a diabetic.

Other studies have shown that consistent lack of sleep has been linked to an increase of heart disease, high-blood pressure, and diabetes.

With that all being said I think I should now go to bed. Oh wait never mind it’s only 2:37 in the afternoon.

Mental Benefits

Did you know getting good quality sleep can actually make us smarter?

How?

Because, when we are asleep our brain is getting things ready for the next day.

Our brain is actually “tiding up the house” storing the important things and getting rid of the stuff that would be considered brain waste.

Another amazing benefit of sleep is that each time we sleep our brains also clear up all the waste from the days junk.

Our bodies also do this and is done when we are awake using our lymphatic system.

But our brains don’t have lymphatic vessels so to accomplish getting rid of the toxin build up throughout the day the brain uses what is called cerebrospinal fluid which takes out all the toxins and junk in the brain to give us a fresh start the next day.

And this all happens in our brains while we are sleeping.

Ok, so now that your brain is overloaded with a lot of sleep information, let me see if I can help clear some of this up.

Let’s take a newborn for example.

Ever wonder why they sleep so much? I mean, how can they possibly be so tired?

All they do is nurse and make dirty diapers.

Well, the reason is because their brain is taking in so much new information.

So when they sleep their brains are helping them process and sort all the new information they have taken in for the day.

And if you keep a baby from her nap and deprive her of her sleep the baby becomes cranky and at times inconsolable.

Now there’s a little more to it than that but you get the gist.

So to put it simply, if we continue to sacrifice our sleep and rely on coffee to “fix it” we aren’t allowing our brains to do it’s job and we then become like the zombies from the walking dead.

This is why sleep is so vital to our mental health. Getting a good night sleep gives us a fresh new start each day.

So now that you know the 3rd pillar of health you can now finally cross off that new years resolution at the end of the year once and for all.

If you learned something reading this or have some questions share it with your friends and/or let us know.

References

i. https://www.ted.com/talks/jeff_iliff_one_more_reason_to_get_a_good_night_s_sleep/transcript?language=en

ii. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/sdd/why

iii. https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/diet-exercise-and-sleep

3 Activities To Avoid Before Going To Bed

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Sleeping in front of tv

Sleep is probably one of the most glorious acts we do each day. It is amazing how sleep helps us feel refreshed, restores our body, and relaxes our muscles.

However, approximately 30% of the population complains about sleep disruption.

To help you sleep better, I have listed three activities you must avoid doing before going to bed.

Exercising

No, this is not me giving you an excuse to quit your new year’s resolution of working out.

So please don’t go tell your spouse or your friends that you can’t workout because some mattress guy told you it affects your sleep.

So please do work out, just not close to bedtime.

The reason is two fold.

First it can over stimulate us and make it tougher for us to unwind.

Secondly, it can spike our core temperature and take it longer for our body to cool down which it naturally does when we go to sleep.

If you do exercise before bed and don’t think it interferes with your sleep try exercising in the morning and see if you notice a difference on how you feel throughout the day.

Watching TV

Have you ever stayed up late and watched something super random like Finding Bigfoot or The Lost Tapes of the Chupacabra?

No?

Well I have.

And just so you know it was definitely not worth it.

I don’t even believe in that stuff and yet there I was wasting away each precious moment of sleep as I sat in front of the TV watching one of those ridiculous shows.

Anyways, the point of the story is watching TV before bed time is bad.

It’s bad because the later it gets the worst we are at choosing a good show to watch.

And more importantly the light emitted from the TV suppresses our body’s natural production of melatonin which is our sleep hormone.

Taking a hot bath or shower

This is a tough one because a nice warm shower in the evening feels so relaxing.

However, If you are going to take a hot bath and then immediately after get ready for bed then this should be avoided.

Our body temperature naturally cools down in the evening to prepare us for sleep.

By taking a hot bath or shower just before bed we are fighting our body’s natural tendency and making it tougher for us to get a good night sleep because our body has to work harder to bring its core temperature down.

If you do take a bath or shower in the evening do so at least an hour before bedtime.

So in order for you to sleep like a boss then avoid these three activities before bed and you should notice improvements in your sleep quality.