Stronger Longer Library Guide #005

The Stronger Longer Library is a collection of evidence-based guides created to help adults 45+ build the strength, confidence, balance, and resilience needed to remain active, independent, and healthy throughout life. Every article combines current research with practical, real-world strategies you can use to move better, feel stronger, and continue doing the things you need, want, and love for years to come.

By Jackie Bachmeier, FAS, IMS

Sleep: The Health Habit You Have to Practice

We practice the things we want to get better at.

If you want to become stronger, you train.

If you want better balance, you practice balance.

If you're preparing for an important test, you study more than once.

But when it comes to sleep, many of us expect to move through a busy, stimulating day, climb into bed, close our eyes and simply be good at sleeping.

Sleep doesn't always work that way.

We can't force ourselves to sleep. But we can practice behaviors that help our brain and body recognize when it's time to be awake, when it's time to wind down and when it's time to sleep.

And just like exercise, those behaviors work best when we practice them consistently.

Sleep Belongs in Your Healthspan Plan

At Evolution Fitness & Wellness, we talk a lot about training for the life you want to keep living.

Usually, that conversation begins with movement.

Can you get off the floor?

Can you carry your luggage?

Can you climb the stairs?

Can you keep hiking, golfing, traveling, gardening, playing with your grandchildren or doing whatever makes your life feel like your life?

Strength matters.

Balance matters.

Cardiovascular fitness matters.

Mobility matters.

But what happens outside the gym matters, too.

Sleep is one of those things.

According to the National Institute on Aging, older adults generally need about seven to nine hours of sleep each night. Aging doesn't eliminate our need for sleep, although sleep can become lighter and more fragmented as we get older.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society also recommend that adults regularly get at least seven hours of sleep to support optimal health.

And sleep isn't only about whether you feel tired tomorrow.

Good sleep supports attention, learning, memory, reaction time, mood, physical health and our ability to function during the day. Regularly getting too little sleep is associated with health problems including hypertension, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Sleep isn't wasted time.

It is part of taking care of the body and brain you're asking to keep performing for you.

Your Body Isn't Doing Nothing While You Sleep

It's easy to think of sleep as the period when everything shuts down.

It isn't.

Sleep is an active biological process.

Throughout the night, we cycle through different stages of sleep, including REM and non-REM sleep. These stages serve different purposes, and both are involved in important functions such as learning and memory.

Our sleep is also influenced by two powerful systems.

Our circadian rhythm helps determine the timing of sleep and wakefulness.

Our sleep drive gradually builds the longer we're awake.

That's one reason what we do throughout the entire day can affect what happens when we finally get into bed.

And it's also why sleep belongs in the same healthspan conversation as exercise.

Think about training.

Exercise provides the stimulus.

Then your body needs the opportunity to recover and adapt.

Nutrition matters.

Recovery matters.

And sleep matters.

Sometimes improving health isn't about adding another workout, supplement or wellness strategy.

Sometimes it's about paying more attention to what happens during the other 23½ hours of the day.

"I Just Don't Need as Much Sleep Anymore"

We hear versions of this frequently as people get older.

"I only sleep five or six hours now. I guess that's just part of aging."

There is some truth buried inside that assumption.

Sleep does change with age.

People may become sleepy earlier, wake earlier, sleep more lightly and awaken more frequently during the night.

But that doesn't mean the body's need for sleep disappears.

Older adults still generally need about seven to nine hours each night.

And there's an important distinction worth making:

One short night isn't the same thing as chronically short sleep.

Life happens.

You travel.

You worry.

The dog wakes you up.

You stay out late.

You simply have a lousy night.

The concern is the pattern.

Regularly sleeping fewer than seven hours is associated with a range of poorer health outcomes as well as impaired performance, more errors and a greater risk of accidents.

So we're not chasing a perfect eight-hour score every night.

We're paying attention to what happens consistently.

Sleep Is Something You Practice

This may be one of the most useful ways to rethink sleep.

Imagine you have an important exam six weeks from now.

Would you ignore the material for five weeks and six days and expect one night of studying to produce your best performance?

Probably not.

Learning requires repetition.

Strength requires repetition.

Balance requires repetition.

Sleep is different biologically, of course, but many of the behaviors that support healthy sleep also benefit from repetition.

Your brain and body receive signals throughout the day:

Light and darkness.

Activity and rest.

Wake time and bedtime.

Caffeine.

Alcohol.

Food.

Stress.

Your evening routine.

Your bedroom environment.

Even what you repeatedly do while lying in bed.

These patterns help regulate when your body expects to be awake and when it expects to sleep.

There is strong clinical evidence behind the idea that sleep-related behaviors can be changed. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia, or CBT-I, is recommended as the first-line treatment for chronic insomnia by the American College of Physicians. CBT-I includes cognitive and behavioral strategies designed to change unhelpful patterns and associations surrounding sleep.

That's an important lesson even for those of us who don't have chronic insomnia.

Better sleep isn't necessarily something we find.

Sometimes it's something we practice.

What Helps Build Better Sleep?

Here's something that may surprise you:

Your bedtime routine doesn't begin at bedtime.

Some of the behaviors that support tonight's sleep happen this morning and this afternoon.

Regular physical activity can improve sleep quality.

Daylight helps provide important timing information to our circadian system.

Regular sleep and wake times provide consistency.

A relaxing transition into the evening can help prepare us for bed.

And a dark, quiet, comfortable bedroom removes some of the things competing with sleep.

None of those requires a sophisticated biohack.

Individually, they may seem almost too simple.

But that's often how foundational health behaviors work.

Simple doesn't mean unimportant.

What Gets in the Way?

Sometimes improving sleep isn't about adding something.

It's about identifying what's interfering with it.

Caffeine

Caffeine helps us feel alert.

That's exactly why timing matters.

Coffee isn't the only source. Tea, soda, energy drinks, chocolate and some medications can contain caffeine.

People differ in how they respond to caffeine, so pay attention to your own patterns, particularly later in the day.

Alcohol

Alcohol is particularly interesting because people sometimes use it to help them sleep.

It may make you feel sleepy initially, but alcohol can contribute to disrupted sleep.

Feeling sedated and getting healthy sleep aren't necessarily the same thing.

Late Meals and Fluids

Going to bed overly full can make sleep uncomfortable, while drinking large amounts of fluid late in the evening may mean spending more of your night walking to the bathroom.

Hydration matters.

So does timing.

Screens and Stimulation

We hear a lot about screens and sleep.

Light exposure at night can matter, but also consider what you're doing on that screen.

Work emails.

News.

Social media.

Videos.

Tomorrow's schedule.

Arguments in the comment section.

Our brains don't necessarily transition immediately from stimulation to sleep just because we finally put the phone down.

Stress, Pain, Medications and Health Conditions

And this one matters:

Not every sleep problem is a habit problem.

Pain can interrupt sleep.

Certain medications can affect sleep.

Menopause can affect sleep.

Insomnia can affect sleep.

Sleep apnea can affect sleep.

Restless legs and other medical conditions can affect sleep.

A perfect bedtime routine cannot fix every reason for poor sleep.

Which brings us to what we can work on.

6 Things to Focus On for Better Sleep

You don't need 27 sleep hacks.

Start with the fundamentals.

1. Create Consistency

Try to go to bed and get up at approximately the same times each day.

Perfect consistency isn't necessary.

Life doesn't work that way.

But if your sleep and wake times vary dramatically from day to day, consider whether creating a little more predictability might help.

Your body responds to patterns.

Give it one.

2. Build Better Sleep During the Day

Don't wait until bedtime to think about sleep.

Get some daylight.

Move your body.

Exercise regularly.

Spend time outside when you can.

Regular physical activity has many health benefits, and improved sleep quality is one of them.

What you do at 10 a.m. can influence what happens at 10 p.m.

3. Create a Landing Strip

Airplanes don't go from cruising altitude to the runway instantly.

Neither should we.

Give yourself a transition between your active day and sleep.

Maybe that's 30 minutes.

Maybe it's an hour.

Lower the lights.

Finish work.

Read.

Listen to music.

Take a warm shower or bath.

Try a few minutes of slow breathing.

Or take five minutes to write down tomorrow's to-do list or whatever is bouncing around in your head so you don't have to keep rehearsing it in bed.

The goal isn't creating the world's most elaborate bedtime ritual.

It's creating a repeated signal:

The day is ending.

4. Audit Your Sleep Disruptors

Before adding something, look at what's already there.

What time is your last cup of coffee?

How much alcohol are you drinking?

Are you eating a large meal shortly before bed?

Are you napping late in the afternoon?

Are you catching up on the day's hydration at 9 p.m.?

Are you answering emails from bed?

Are you scrolling long after you intended to be asleep?

Don't judge your answers.

Just notice them.

And don't try to fix everything tomorrow.

Choose the most obvious disruptor and work on one change at a time.

Practice it.

See what happens.

Then adjust.

5. Make Your Bedroom Say "Sleep"

Look at the environment you've created.

Ideally, your bedroom should be:

Dark.
Quiet.
Comfortable.
Not too hot or too cold.

But there's another piece to this.

Think about what you're teaching your brain to associate with your bed.

If your bed is also your office, movie theater, social-media station and favorite place to answer email, you're asking one environment to serve a lot of competing purposes.

One of the behavioral principles used in treating insomnia is strengthening the association between bed and sleep.

You don't have to create a perfect sleep sanctuary.

But whenever possible, let your bed say:

This is where we sleep.

6. Track Before You Hack

This might be our favorite.

Before buying another supplement, gadget or sleep solution, become curious about your own patterns.

For a week or two, keep a simple sleep diary.

Track:

Your approximate bedtime.

Your wake time.

How often you remember waking during the night.

Caffeine.

Alcohol.

Exercise.

Naps.

And how rested you felt the next day.

The National Institute on Aging specifically recommends keeping a sleep diary when you're experiencing sleep problems. It can help reveal patterns and provide useful information to discuss with your healthcare provider.

You aren't looking for a perfect score.

You're looking for clues.

Measure. Learn. Adjust.

That's a much better place to begin than chasing every new sleep hack that appears on social media.

Know When It's More Than a Sleep Habit

There is an important difference between improving sleep habits and trying to self-treat a sleep disorder.

Talk with your healthcare provider if you're regularly struggling to sleep or your sleep problems are interfering with daily life.

And don't ignore symptoms such as excessive daytime sleepiness, loud snoring, waking while gasping or choking, or someone noticing that you repeatedly stop breathing while you're asleep.

Sleep apnea causes repeated interruptions in breathing during sleep and becomes more common as we age.

Persistent insomnia deserves attention, too.

If you've worked on the fundamentals and you're still struggling, the answer isn't necessarily trying harder.

Sometimes the next healthy action is asking for help.

Don't Let One Bad Night Become a Bad Sleep Story

There's one more sleep habit worth practicing:

Perspective.

You're occasionally going to sleep badly.

Everyone does.

One workout doesn't make you strong.

One missed workout doesn't make you weak.

And one bad night doesn't make you a bad sleeper.

Return to your habits.

Wake.

Get some daylight.

Move.

Eat well.

Train.

Wind down.

Sleep.

Repeat.

That's what practice looks like.

THE STRONGER LONGER PROMISE

Active aging isn't simply about staying busy.

It's about maintaining the physical and cognitive capacity to keep participating in your life.

That requires more than exercise.

It means giving your body opportunities to work and recover.

So when you think about the things you're doing to become Stronger Longer, don't only ask:

How am I training?

Also ask:

How am I recovering?

Because getting stronger isn't only about what you do while you're awake.

Protecting your sleep is part of protecting your ability to think clearly, recover well, move confidently and keep doing the things you want to do for years to come.

RESEARCH & RESOURCES

National Institute on Aging — Sleep and Older Adults
Information about sleep needs as we age, healthy sleep habits, sleep diaries, insomnia, sleep apnea and other sleep concerns.

American Academy of Sleep Medicine & Sleep Research Society — Recommended Amount of Sleep for a Healthy Adult
Consensus recommendation that adults regularly obtain at least seven hours of sleep to promote optimal health.

American College of Physicians — Management of Chronic Insomnia
ACP recommends Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) as the initial treatment for adults with chronic insomnia.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — Benefits of Physical Activity
Regular physical activity provides numerous health benefits, including improved sleep quality.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jackie Bachmeier is co-owner of Evolution Fitness & Wellness and co-author of Stronger Longer: The Authoritative Guide to Aging Actively and Optimal Longevity. She has spent more than a decade helping adults build strength, confidence and physical capacity for the years ahead.

At Evolution Fitness & Wellness, Jackie and her team specialize in purposeful training for adults 45+, helping people prepare for the life they want to keep living.

Train for the life you want to keep living.