Ep. #109: Shawn Stevenson on how to get the best sleep of your life

In this episode I interview Shawn Stevenson, author of the popular book Sleep Smarter and host of the The Model Health podcast. He’s also a super smart and super nice guy so I was excited to get him on the show to talk specifically about the subject of sleep. While I’ve written a bit about it on Muscle For Life and Legion, I haven’t really dived into it here on the podcast.

Everyone knows that getting enough sleep is important, but not everyone knows just how important it really is, especially for us fitness fanatics. Sleep insufficiency has been linked to car crashes, industrial disasters, and medical and other occupational errors. It increases the risk of chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes, depression, obesity, and cancer, and it dramatically reduces our quality of life and productivity. Research shows that inadequate sleep can slow down weight loss, lead to weight gain and muscle loss, and reduce testosterone levels.

The bottom line is that your sleep hygiene is like your diet - it’s either working for you or against you, regardless of whether you realize it.

In this interview, you’re going to learn all about what good sleep hygiene really is, and what you can do start doing tonight to get some of the best sleep of your life. That doesn’t necessarily mean sleeping more than you already do. In fact, you may even be able to sleep less, but feel more rested every day. You can get there by improving the quality or efficiency of your sleep.

If you have your sleep efficiency is really dialed in, you shouldn’t need to spend more than 6 to 6.5 hours in bed every night, and in this interview, Shawn explains why and how to get there.

If any of that sounds interesting to you, then I think you’re going to enjoy the interview. Here it is.

17:40 - How do you know if you're sleep deprived?
18:50 - Can you make up for lost sleep with taking a nap?
20:34 - What are some strategies for getting good sleep?
25:10 - What is cortisol and melatonin, and how does it affect our sleep?
29:45 - How does light from our cell phones and tv's change our sleep patterns?
34:47 - Does caffeine and pre-workout affect your sleep?
38:55 - How can we change our bedroom environment to allow better sleep?
47:04 - What's the best room temperature to sleep in?
53:02 - What are the benefits of getting proper sleep?
59:07 - Does eating a meal near your bed time affect your sleep?
1:01:28 - How can people connect with you and find your work?
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