THE FIT WOMEN'S GUIDE TO Better Sleep

Trying to improve your fitness or train for a sportive? A good night's sleep is crucial, says Eve Boggenpoel. Here's how to improve yours...

- Eve Boggenpoel

If you're one of the 20 million Brits who struggle to fall asleep, you'll know only too well that insomnia I' . often leaves you tired, irritable and low on energy. But the consequences don't stop there: lack of sleep also decreases motivation, negatively impacts performance and impairs the cognitive processes needed for attention and focus. Research even shows that athletes who sleep less than eight hours per night increase their risk of injury by 65 per cent - not what you want when you're aiming for a new personal best! With a shocking 91 per cent of adults in the UK reporting they don't feel rested in the morning, maybe it's time to get more restorative sleep...

When you sleep normally, your body goes through distinct stages, alternating between REM (rapid-eye movement) sleep and non-REM (NREM), in cycles of around 90-120 minutes, explains Dimitri Gavriloff, research clinical psychologist in sleep medicine at Oxford Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences. Each stage corresponds to specific brain activity - brainwave patterns known as sleep spindles, for example, are found in NREM sleep, and thought to relate to brain plasticity and memory consolidation - and experiencing all stages of sleep is key for rest, recovery and learning.

COUNTING SHEEP