How to Optimize Your Life with Greg Wells, PhD

What's the difference between getting through the day and performing at your absolute best? A whole lot, argues Dr. Greg Wells—and he wants to help you get there. Dr. Wells is a physiologist, senior scientist at SickKids hospital and the president of Wells Performance. He takes the latest training techniques from elite athletics and applies them to corporate executives, to help CEOs and management teams perform better in their jobs. His latest book is Rest, Refocus, Recharge: A Guide for Optimizing Your Life. Dr. Wells argues that we all need to move past non-stop "hustle culture" and toward a more holistic focus that acknowledges the importance of recovery to long-term optimal performance. On this week's episode, Dr. Wells joins host and Medcan CEO Shaun Francis to discuss the benefits of recovery, why we all need to be thinking about how to sleep better and how to optimize our lives for the best results.

Episode 82 webpage.

LINKS

• You can find Dr. Wells online at his website, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
• Learn more about his latest book Rest, Refocus, Recharge here.
• Check out Dr. Wells' blog post summarizing how to achieve optimal performance in life and sport. You can also get more similar content by signing up for his newsletter here.
• Dr. Wells has also appeared on several podcasts, and has spoken at UofT's Tedx event.

INSIGHTS

• The way we approach performance in sports has shifted dramatically over the past few decades. In the '80s and '90s, the training philosophy was to train as much as possible, regardless of injuries or your mental health. Olympic-level swimmers would spend hours and hours per day in the pool. According to Dr. Wells, this started to change in the late '90s and early 2000s. Now, we see more of a focus on intensity training: athletes will train in their sport at a very high level for only a few hours a day, and the rest of their time is focused on other activities, such as recovery and nutrition. The shift from quantity of training to quality of training is resulting in better performance and, often, longer careers. Dr. Wells observes that he's seeing a similar shift happen in the business world. "Regeneration is becoming a lot more accepted," he says. "We're moving out of this hustle culture into what is more of a performance-based culture, which is super important, because along with higher performance comes much better mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health." [03:44]
• Getting a good night's sleep is one of the most important things we can do to achieve optimal performance, Dr. Wells says. Luckily, it's easier than ever to track our resting cycles and work on proper sleep hygiene thanks to the development of wearable tech, like Fitbits and Apple Watches. But with great tech comes great responsibility. We don't want these devices to become a clutch, or a potential trigger for anxiety. "We've got to build a balance... It's the idea of intention versus compulsion," says Dr. Wells. "If you're intentionally using wearable technology to get data so that you can make decisions, that's fantastic. If you're compulsively looking at your data and it's actually making things worse, then you need to throw it all away." [12:41]
• At the same time, we have to be careful not to become dependent on other sleep aids, like medication, to help us get some shut eye. Sleep medication can and should be used temporarily in some instances. "But use them as a bridge to get better sleep habits," says Dr. Wells, explaining that long-term consistent use of medication to get people to sleep has been associated with shorter lifespans. Attempt other techniques, like exhausting yourself during the day with exercise, blackout blinds and journaling, to see what else you can do to help improve your sleep. [15:06]
• Dr. Wells talks about the need to defend the last hour of sleep. "That's creating a digital sunset," he explains. "You don't want to have the same level of activation before you fall asleep. You want to use the last hour of your day before you fall asleep to downshift, slow down, relax, decompress, reflect, deconstruct, build relationships and take care of ourselves." He recommends following the 20-20-20 pattern—basically finding three calming, mindful activities you can do for 20 minutes each during the hour before you go to bed. [19:03]
• Of course, nutrition is also a key part of optimal performance. Intermittent fasting is a hot topic of discussion at the moment, as it seems to help the digestive system go through its own restorative process. But, according to Dr. Wells, you don't have to do the typical 16-hour fast — intermittent fasting for 12 hours a day achieves about 80 percent of the same benefits, including boosting the body's ability to repair and regenerate and a reduction in inflammatory markers. "Basically, after dinner, no more snacking is the easiest way to think about it." [20:49]