How to sleep better: easy tips for athletes from extreme adventurer Ross Edgley

Ross Edgley in a wetsuit looking out to sea

No stranger to extreme endurance events, Ross Edgley was the first man to swim around the coast of Great Britain and more recently, the coast of Iceland. Just as important as fuelling and training though is one crucial element – sleep.

On the eve of his new book How To Hero being published (on sale 8th October, see link below to pre-order) we thought it was a good time to revisit some advice from his earlier book Blueprint. It’s fair to say Edley is as adept at assimilating technical concepts into easy-to-action advice as he is swimming with a tree across the Caribbean Sea (yes, he once did that as well)..

Like his previous best-sellers, The World’s Fittest Book and The Art of Resilience, the advice is built on his own athletic experience and his laser-sharp knowledge of sport science. Here, Edgley explains how to sleep better, highlighting the importance of recovery with his six ways to sleep your way to stronger training and faster racing…

Pre-order the new book How To Hero by Ross Edgley

1. Morning sun sets your body clock

Studies show morning sunlight reinforces your natural circadian rhythm (your body clock). By signalling to your brain that bedtime is over, it’s time to suppress melatonin, increase cortisol production and attack the day.

Researchers claim, ‘These hormones can be considered to be stable markers of the circadian time structure and therefore useful tools to validate rhythms’ synchronisation of human subjects.’

2. Learn to digital detox

In the modern digital age, experts stress the need to manage the amount of light you’re pumping into your eyes from electronic devices in the evening.

This is because studies show, ‘Modern light exposure patterns contribute to late sleep schedules and disrupt sleep and circadian clocks’ by delaying the release of melatonin.

3. Reduce caffeine intake

Research reveals there is a strong association between daily intake of caffeine and reduced sleep quality and quantity, since consumption causes a reduction in 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (main metabolite of melatonin), which interferes with our natural sleep– wake cycle.

Obviously effects vary from person to person, but studies show even if taken six hours before bed, a small cup of coffee can have disruptive effects on sleep.

4. Train to sleep

Ross Edgley at the end of the Great British Swim — Ross Edgley finishes his Great British Swim, an historic 2,000-mile swim around Great Britain in 2018 (Credit: Luke Walker/Getty Images for Red Bull)

In 2007, a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience wrote, ‘The present suggestion is that depletion of cerebral energy stores and accumulation of the sleep-promoting substance adenosine after exercise may play a key role in homeostatic sleep regulation.’

Put simply, train like an animal during the day and sleep like a baby at night. Also, studies reveal that the type of exercise doesn’t even matter; everything from strength training to yoga was shown to have sleep-enhancing benefits.

5. Find 65°F (18.3°C)

Researchers found, ‘The thermal environment (temperature of the room) is one of the most important factors that can affect sleep.’ This has been supported by numerous studies over the years, but a large-scale analysis of 765,000 survey respondents found that most people experience abnormal sleeping patterns during the hotter summer months.

This is why scientists claim the perfect room temperature is between 60°F and 67°F (15.6°C and 19.4°C). This is because your body’s internal temperature changes during a 24-hour period with your circadian rhythm, but if the room temperature is too hot or cold, it may cause circadian rhythm malfunctions and therefore disrupt sleep.

Edgley takes a moment ahead of the Great Icelandic Swim

6. Supplement your sleep

This final tip could be the proverbial cherry on top of your night-time routine. This is because cherries are one food known to be naturally high in melatonin, which research published in the European Journal of Nutrition found increases melatonin levels and serotonin levels which in turn improved the quality and quantity of their sleep.

Ross Edgley’s Blueprint is published by Harper Collins and is available from the links below.

About

Ross Edgley is an extreme adventurer, ultra-marathon sea swimmer and author. For over a decade, he’s been involved in every area of sport, fitness, and nutrition imaginable. He started as an international athlete playing water polo for Great Britain but later moved into the academics of sport and graduated from Loughborough University. He’s a qualified strength and conditioning coach and performance nutritionist. He’s the co-founder of The Protein Works, writes for range of publications and has amassed a social media following of nearly 1 million. His well-publicised sporting feats are often designed to push the boundaries of human physical excellence and raise money for charity. These have included losing over 24 pounds in 24 hours to highlight dangerous weight-cutting practices and prove to people that ‘weight loss’ is very different from ‘fat loss’. He also once climbed a rope as tall as Everest; did a marathon while pulling a Mini; and swam across open sea while tied to a 100lb tree. He holds multiple world records, but is now best known for completing the World's Longest Staged Sea Swim in 2018 when he became the first person in history to swim 1,780 miles all the way around Great Britain in 157 days.