Over the last 20 years many individuals have lost their way when it comes to sleep, and there are serious, but as yet largely unrecognised, consequences. This needs to be addressed. Sleep plays an essential role in your physical and mental health, and when it comes to optimal performance it is the most basic of requirements. Here’s what you need to know about sleep, so you can start benefiting from it.
Sleep Your Way to a Healthier Life
Although experts recommend adults get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night, only about 50% of adults are managing to achieve this amount. If you’re trying to maintain a healthy mind and body, then you must make sleep a priority!
Insufficient sleep affects your ability to perform everyday tasks. However, it can also lead to difficulties maintaining relationships and can makes you more vulnerable to serious long-term health issues, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, depression and type-2 diabetes.
Not all sleep is the same and there are different stages that you go through every night, which help to repair and refresh your brain and body in different ways. These stages are light sleep, deep sleep, and Rapid Eye Movement (REM; also known as dream) sleep.
Get to Know Your Sleep Stages
Successful sleepers are able to achieve a complete sleep cycle, which takes roughly 90 to 110 minutes and involves going through each sleep stage—light, deep, and REM. On average, adults are meant to have 5 complete sleep cycles each night.
Light Sleep Your body is just beginning to relax, preparing itself for sleep. People often drift in and out of this stage and many people may experience a sudden feeling of falling, all of which is completely normal. In the later part of this stage, your brain begins to slow down as your body prepares for deeper sleep.
Deep Sleep During deep sleep the body and brain are at their most relaxed. If you’ve ever attempted to wake someone and it was incredibly difficult, they were likely in deep sleep. This stage of sleep is essential for a healthy body, as it is during this time that the body builds and repairs muscle, and prepares to meet the physical challenges of the wakeful hours.
REM This sleep stage is most commonly associated with dreaming, and at this time nearly all muscles are paralysed (except for the breathing and eye muscles) – this is a good thing otherwise you might actually act out your dreams! During this stage of sleep the brain is very active and without sufficient REM sleep you will have trouble learning and remembering. If you experience a lack of REM sleep you may also find it difficult to control your emotions.
Short Naps Can Be Helpful
Napping can’t take the place of a good night’s rest. But a 20-minute nap will help you feel refreshed (as you will still only be in light sleep when you wake). A more extended nap, however, could lead to you waking up in the middle of deep sleep, leading to feelings of grogginess.
How Can You Track Your Sleep Stages?
In the past, the only way to get any insight into your sleep cycles and stages was to have an overnight sleep study, often prescribed by a doctor. However, the introduction of Fitbit Sleep Stages and Insights gives you the ability to access to similar information every night. By using an algorithm that takes heart rate variability and body movement into account, you’re able to find good insight in the Fitbit app on how much and what type of sleep you get each night. It allows you to delve more deeply than ever before from the comfort of your own home.
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or condition. Always check with your doctor before changing your diet, altering your sleep habits, taking supplements, or starting a new fitness routine.
Dr. Carmel Harrington
Dr. Carmel Harrington, BSc, PhD, LLB, DipEd, Managing Director Sleep for Health, is an Australian sleep scientist and a founding member of the Australian Sleep Foundation. She has written two best-selling books on the subject, The Sleep Diet and The Complete Guide to a Good Night's Sleep.
Strongly suggest Fitbit make it clear to potential buyers which models have sleep stage monitoring. I bought a Surge so have been caught by Fitbit “false” advertising.
Why does my Fitbit charge sleep pattern look like a half filled glass of dark blue water with a few full length vertical light blue lines.
What is a healthy restless sleep time each night?
I have been using Fitbit charge 2 since October 2016 and find the sleep information and tips for a better sleeping pattern very informative.
I specifically purchased a Charge 2 for the sleep pattern feature. It records sporadically. This prevents a consistent monitoring. I have followed all recommendations and none has worked. Fitbit should provide a fix.
No matter what I try I am up half the night
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I have a Fitbit 2 purchased to be able To get heart rate as I sleep. It worked 1 night and now doesn’t work properly. I have position it everyway but no results. I have severe sleep apnea and I would like to be able to see info on my Fitbit.