For decades, we haven’t been approaching sleep in the right way, taking it for granted and mostly getting away with it. However, nowadays there are many lifestyle and occupational practices exacerbating this problem, including increased exposure to artificial light and being plugged into technology.
We’re now reaching a tipping point whereby sleep deprivation is leading to a rapid rise in associated side-effects and disorders, not to mention a dependency on caffeine and sleeping tablets. This is a one-way street to burnout.
Whenever I ask clients how much sleep they need, they say eight hours. But after more than 30 years in the sleep industry, and 16 dedicated to elite sport, I’ve rarely worked with anyone who achieves that. Most push on through life, rarely experiencing a personal best in any area of life because they’re not getting adequate mental and physical recovery from the hours allocated to sleep.
In the world of elite sport, I’ve been redefining the importance of sleep to overall sports performance, with clients including British Cycling and the ParaCycling Olympic teams, the Sky Pro Cycling team, leading premiership and international football teams and Premiership rugby union and Super League Clubs.
The key factors I address as part of my Sleep Recovery Programme involve re-synching an athlete with the circadian rhythms: the physical, mental and behavioural changes their bodies follow during any 24-hour cycle, triggered by light, dark and temperature changes. Understanding their chronotype – are they a morning or night person – and designing their training schedules accordingly can be a game changer.
We’re naturally attuned to take advantage of three sleep periods every day: nocturnal, between 1.00pm and 3.00pm, and around 5.00pm–7.00pm. I recommend people sleep in shorter cycles rather than blocks of hours, and that naps are factored into every routine.
In addition, re-establishing pre and post sleep routines – for example tech shut-down, mental download, moving from light to dark and warm to cool – have never been more important to help enter a natural sleep state.
Health clubs and their members would clearly benefit from raising sleep recovery awareness in a redefined way that’s more attuned to today’s lifestyles, combining simple, practical and achievable techniques.
Want to hear more? Nick Littlehales will be among the speakers at Elevate, which takes place at London Olympia on 4–5 May 2016. Attendance is free of charge, with tickets offered on a first come, first served basis.
Register online at www.elevatearena.com where you can also see the full speaker line-up and programme.
Elevate
Our bodies are naturally attuned to sleep between 1.00pm and 3.00pm; naps should be factored into our routines / PHOTOS: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
Panatta brought together four of the most influential figures in bodybuilding history on the
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Active Blackpool is deploying Cornerstone Connect, a new digital interface allowing
disparate information from multiple systems to be aggregated into one dataset, to support
its focus on reducing health inequalities and improving healthy life expectancy. [more...]
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For decades, we haven’t been approaching sleep in the right way, taking it for granted and mostly getting away with it. However, nowadays there are many lifestyle and occupational practices exacerbating this problem, including increased exposure to artificial light and being plugged into technology.
We’re now reaching a tipping point whereby sleep deprivation is leading to a rapid rise in associated side-effects and disorders, not to mention a dependency on caffeine and sleeping tablets. This is a one-way street to burnout.
Whenever I ask clients how much sleep they need, they say eight hours. But after more than 30 years in the sleep industry, and 16 dedicated to elite sport, I’ve rarely worked with anyone who achieves that. Most push on through life, rarely experiencing a personal best in any area of life because they’re not getting adequate mental and physical recovery from the hours allocated to sleep.
In the world of elite sport, I’ve been redefining the importance of sleep to overall sports performance, with clients including British Cycling and the ParaCycling Olympic teams, the Sky Pro Cycling team, leading premiership and international football teams and Premiership rugby union and Super League Clubs.
The key factors I address as part of my Sleep Recovery Programme involve re-synching an athlete with the circadian rhythms: the physical, mental and behavioural changes their bodies follow during any 24-hour cycle, triggered by light, dark and temperature changes. Understanding their chronotype – are they a morning or night person – and designing their training schedules accordingly can be a game changer.
We’re naturally attuned to take advantage of three sleep periods every day: nocturnal, between 1.00pm and 3.00pm, and around 5.00pm–7.00pm. I recommend people sleep in shorter cycles rather than blocks of hours, and that naps are factored into every routine.
In addition, re-establishing pre and post sleep routines – for example tech shut-down, mental download, moving from light to dark and warm to cool – have never been more important to help enter a natural sleep state.
Health clubs and their members would clearly benefit from raising sleep recovery awareness in a redefined way that’s more attuned to today’s lifestyles, combining simple, practical and achievable techniques.
Want to hear more? Nick Littlehales will be among the speakers at Elevate, which takes place at London Olympia on 4–5 May 2016. Attendance is free of charge, with tickets offered on a first come, first served basis.
Register online at www.elevatearena.com where you can also see the full speaker line-up and programme.
Elevate
Our bodies are naturally attuned to sleep between 1.00pm and 3.00pm; naps should be factored into our routines / PHOTOS: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
The UK's four Chief Medical Officers have published a refreshed edition of Physical activity
guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers' report, updating the evidence that underpins the nation's
physical activity recommendations and placing greater emphasis on strength, balance, reducing
sedentary behaviour and, for the first time, supporting people taking weight loss medications.
Places Leisure has exchanged contracts to build and operate a flagship £60m water and leisure
destination on behalf of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.
The Republic of Ireland will become the latest market in PureGym’s expanding international
portfolio, with the first launch planned for Dublin in 2027.
Anytime Fitness opened more than one club a day in 2025 and is on track to maintain this rate
of growth this year, as parent company Purpose Brands targets further international expansion.
The £33.9 million Leighton Leisure and Community Centre has opened in Leighton Buzzard, UK,
creating a next-generation public leisure, health and wellbeing hub for the local community.
Walnuts Leisure Centre in Orpington, in the London Borough of Bromley, has reopened following
a £17m transformation designed to secure the long-term future of the public leisure asset and
reposition it as a community wellbeing hub.
The Gym Group, has announced that it's sustained positive trading momentum has continued
through the first half of 2026 and the company remains confident about the outlook.
Luxury boutique Pilates and wellness studio, X-Club, officially launches a
4,000sq ft flagship at
Marylebone on 16 July Built around X-Club’s four pillars of wellness – mind,
movement,
nutrition and therapy – the facility features two group exercise studi
Panatta brought together four of the most influential figures in bodybuilding history on the
stage of RiminiWellness 2026: Phil Heath, Lee Haney, Ronnie Coleman and Hany Rambod. [more...]
Active Blackpool is deploying Cornerstone Connect, a new digital interface allowing
disparate information from multiple systems to be aggregated into one dataset, to support
its focus on reducing health inequalities and improving healthy life expectancy. [more...]
+ More featured suppliers
COMPANY PROFILES
Orbit4 With Orbit4, you’ll always have full visibility
of your equipment inventory, the true
market value [more...]
