Sleep yourself healthy? Millbrook investigates…

Look anywhere in society these days and you’ll find a wealth of advice about what to do to stay healthy – what to eat, what to avoid, what exercise to do… These certainly play a large part in your general health, but we at Millbrook Contract Beds would like to point out how great an impact a good night’s sleep can play.  Getting your 40 winks every night could help you shed an extra pound or two, or help stop you putting it on!

Obesity is generally considered to be a bad thing, health-wise.  It has been suggested to be a risk factor in developing all kinds of conditions and problems – and regular exercise is generally considered to be a good way of keeping your weight relatively under control.

Have you ever tried going for a morning jog after an unfulfilling night’s sleep?  It’s not easy to work up the motivation to, especially if you’re just starting out and aren’t used to a regular exercise regime.  In addition, the risk of developing many sleep-related conditions (such as sleep apnea and insomnia) is increased in overweight individuals.  In essence, the more weight you put on, the more at risk you are of having a bad night’s sleep, and the less motivated you will be to exercise in the daytime due to tiredness, which exasperates the problem.  It’s a vicious circle, a hard one to break.

Since it’s so difficult to begin and stick to an exercise regime when your sleep patterns are so substandard, many experts recommend targeting the sleep difficulties first and foremost.  Millbrook Contract Beds would recommend speaking to a healthcare professional (such as your GP) about the available options.

Once your sleep quality is improving (this may take a little time so don’t be disheartened!), it’s time to make a start on a beneficial exercise routine.  You may think that exercising right before bed will lead to you being more tired out and therefore sleep well – that’s a common misconception.  After exercise, especially if you are not very physically fit, your heart rate will stay higher than usual for quite some time.  Your body temperature will rise, and may take anything up to six hours to start to drop again.  If you’re trying to get to sleep within this time, you will find it difficult – the body has a natural daily rhythm of rises and falls in temperature, and sleep is generally associated with a cooling down.  For this reason it would be recommended to exercise early on in the day – late afternoon is ideal as you will begin to cool off around the time you’ll be sleeping!

We do hope you get the very best night’s sleep you can – but if you are suffering from difficulties, perhaps our Healthcare Collection could help.  With a great deal of individual customisation available on all of our orders, Millbrook Contract Beds really is the ideal option for an unsurpassed sleeping experience.