Simple Ways to Improve Sleep Quality

How Sleep Stages Impact Muscle Recovery, Brain Health, and Training Results

To get the most out of your training, focusing on getting good quantity and quality of sleep is key for muscle recovery and metabolic health – and when you look into what happens with your brain and body when you’re asleep, it’s pretty interesting. There are different sleep stages:

- Light sleep: usually 45-55% of total sleep, this is a transitional stage that is easy to wake from. Light sleep helps your brain with early memory processing.

- Deep sleep: also called slow wave sleep, this is about 13-23% of total sleep and is the physically restorative part. This is when muscle repair occurs, and recovery from exercise or injury. Mostly concentrated to the first third of the night.

- REM sleep: The mentally restorative part of sleep, usually occurring in the last third of the night. Usually about 20-25% of total sleep. This is when memory consolidation happens, along with emotional processing and mood regulation.

- Restorative sleep is deep sleep + REM sleep, which is when your body and brain repair. It should be about 40-50% of your total sleep for you to feel recovered and ready to perform optimally the next day.

Sleep Tips for Busy Parents, Shift Workers, and Athletes

I spent many years not getting enough sleep with babies and kids waking in the night and I used to get annoyed when my fitness tracker analysed my sleep because for a long time it wasn’t great - and shift workers will also feel this! It’s true that life doesn’t always let us get as much sleep as we need but there are still things you can do to max out on the sleep you do get:

- Protect sleep consistency: a regular sleep-wake schedule anchors your circadian rhythm, which drives sleep, hormone release, metabolism and immune function. When that rhythm is stable (even if your shift will change next week) your body can predict when to power down and when to perform.

This leads to better sleep efficiency and more restorative sleep. Research shows that when you sleep can matter as much as how long you sleep, for long term health. Aim to stay within 30 mins of the time you get to bed and wake up, even if the length of your sleep fluctuates.

- Hard cut offs for sleep time: set yourself a specific time that’s about 60-90 mins before you want to be actually asleep, to put down your phone or switch off the tv and begin your night time routine. Set yourself an actual alarm to make this happen and commit to doing it!

- Bedtime routine: No devices in bed, and leave yourself enough time to get all your bedtime stuff done before the time that you need to be asleep – including last minute kid logistics.

- Efficiency, not perfection: when you can’t extend time in bed, the goal is just to stay asleep when you are in bed. Try keeping the room dark, cool, and cutting off caffeine early enough in the day. Keep work out of the bedroom and make it a stress-free space as much as you can.

A note for female athletes: sleep is affected by hormonal changes, so it’s normal for sleep quality to differ through your cycle. And if you’re in your 40s and finding your sleep quality is worse – this is a symptom of perimenopause as progesterone decreases. Talk to a qualified professional if this sounds familiar, since MHT can work wonders for this.

Small Sleep Changes That Lead to Better Health and Training Results

As Coach Gem said in her last article, set yourself achievable and realistic goals and get there gradually – including for improving your sleep. Make it earlier to bed 2 or 3 nights a week and focus on the tips above to start.

You’ll see benefits to your physical and mental health, and we’ll see you hitting those 2026 goals on the board.