Category Archives: sleep

sleep

What Your Sleep Tracker Is Really Telling You.

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You’ve probably heard of REM sleep, Light sleep Deep sleep, HRV or you might even track your sleep with a Whoop, Aura ring or fitness watch.

But what does all of that actually mean?

Let’s break it down.

Sleep Is Not Passive

Sleep isn’t “doing nothing” — it’s a highly active, regenerative process.
Your brain cycles through different stages, each with a job to do:

  • Light Sleep
    Theta brain waves ease you out of wakefulness and into sleep.
    This stage sets the foundation for deeper physical and mental repair.

  • Deep Sleep (Slow-Wave Sleep)
    Delta waves dominate here.
    This is when:
    • Growth hormone is released
    • Tissues repair
    • Your brain helps clear metabolic waste and toxins

  • REM Sleep
    Your brain waves look similar to when you’re awake, but your body is effectively “offline.”
    REM is key for:
    • Memory consolidation
    • Emotional resilience
    • Creativity and problem-solving

HRV: A Window Into Stress and Recovery

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) measures the small variations between heartbeats.

  • Higher HRV → better recovery, adaptability, and nervous system balance
  • Lower HRV → may indicate chronic stress, overtraining, or poor recovery

You don’t need perfect numbers, but trends over time can tell you how well your body is bouncing back.

How to Optimize Your Sleep

  • Go to bed and wake up at consistent times — even on weekends.
  • Create a wind-down routine: meditation, breathing exercises, light stretching, or journaling.
  • Keep your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet.
  • Avoid screens before bed — or at least use blue-light filters.

How to Support Better Sleep During the Day

  • First Thing in the morning get 10 minutes of sunlight on your body while your drinking coffee. Sitting in the sunlight will help tell the body to wake up.
  • Move your body daily. Even a walk helps regulate your nervous system.
  • Stay hydrated. Aim for about half your body weight in ounces of water
    • Example: 160 lbs → ~80 oz of water per day
  • Avoid alcohol before bed. It may help you fall asleep, but it disrupts deep and REM sleep.
  • Limit blue light exposure at night.
    Blue light from phones, tablets, and computers can interfere with melatonin and delay sleep.

Bottom line:
Good sleep is not an accident.
When you understand your sleep stages and HRV, you can make small, targeted changes that lead to deeper recovery, less stress, and better performance in your daily life.

Pain keeping you up at night?
Call or book online.
Safe, natural chiropractic care can help. Welcome – Chiropractic Care and Wellness in Elgin IL

sleep

Sleep and Strength

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I post a lot about sleep. Sleep is one of the easiest things you can do to improve your strength. Sleeping 7-8 hours a night improve your brain function, immune system, increase your life span.

The Study: Relationship between sleep and muscle strength among Chinese university students: a cross-sectional study              

 The Facts: 

a. “Poor sleep quality and short sleep duration are associated with an increased risk for muscle mass reduction.” 

b. The authors noted that a previous study had suggested that short sleep duration was associated with increased inflammation in adolescents. 

c. They also indicate that sleep disruption was associated with impaired secretion of insulin-like growth factor-1. 

d. Additionally they note that increased inflammation is a risk for lower muscle strength and that insulin-like growth factor-1 modulates both muscle mass and muscle function.  

e. They also note previous studies showing a relationship between muscle mass and sleep.  

f. This study examined both sleep quality and duration and their relationship to muscle strength.  

g. The subjects were 10,125 female and male university students. 

h. Strength was assessed using a hand grip dynamometer. 

i. Sleep quality and length were assessed with self-reporting. 

j. “…a positive association between sleep quality and muscle strength was observed in both male and female students.” 

k. Male subjects who were sleeping 6 hours were measurably weaker than those who slept 7 to 8 hours. 

l. No significant difference was noted between those men who slept 7 to 8 hours and those who slept more than 8 hours. 

M. In women, although there was an association between sleep quality and strength there was not a significant association between sleep duration and strength. 

 Take Home:

Sleep quality and duration are both factors that can affect muscular function however, the exact ways in which sleep disruptions may impact strength seem to differ between men and women.   

Link to Full Text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5749041/