Just like you, for the longest time I had trouble sleeping well, my mind would always race and I would wake up multiple times during the night. Yessss I can be helpful! I got you man, right here, this is all you need. My caffeine intake is sparse, maybe a shot of espresso before workouts 2 days a week, though I'm not quite sure what the exact levels would be 14 hours later when I go to bed.įrom the replies I can see a few additional aids: ear plugs, a ZMA supplement, cutting out all caffeine, and maintaining a daily planner/schedule to keep my mind clear. I've been using f.lux app to reduce exposure to blue light in the evenings and try to shut off all screens at least a half hour before bed.

It's not that I'm tired throughout the day, but know that sleep is critical and I want to get as much recovery (physically & mentally) as possible.Įdit: I'll add in a few more details as I omitted some in the OP. My question is, what else can I improve upon? I'd like to improve my REM cycles to wake up feeling more refreshed.

This greatly disrupts my REM sleep cycle and with my app it says I'm averaging around 45%, which isn't that great. Here I'm usually tossing and turning for a solid 15-20 minutes and usually wake up periodically throughout the night (1-2 times). I then meditate for fifteen-twenty minutes, drink a cup of tea with Valerian root/chamomile and head to bed. I then usually pack everything I need for the next day, do some stretching, and read for about twenty minutes. I dim the lights an hour before bed, and turn off my laptop. I'm also eating rather healthy, with roughly 40/30/30 protein/carb/fat diet in addition to multivitamins.įor the past two weeks I've been setting a more strict bedtime routine. The cardio is usually done early morning (7AM), or early evening (5-6 PM). My workouts are always either early morning (7AM) or after classes at about 1:00 PM. This makes me fairly tired before going to bed, or so I thought. I exercise regularly, fairly intense weight training 3-4x a week and usually 1-2 days of cardio (2-3 mile runs). So a little background, I'm a first year grad student, which keeps me fairly busy and so I usually have a lot on my mind in terms of classes, TAing, etc.

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Too little rem sleep