Fitness: Learn to add sleep to your night with a trade system. Getting more sleep for health and fitness is probably a matter of scheduling. 

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Fitness and Health

Get More Sleep for Health and Fitness

By BJ Johnson

Fitness: You will probably try harder to get more sleep once you see how much better you feel with even 30 minutes more sleep.

The role of fitness in health: 

Need more sleep? 

Most of us do!

Getting more sleep is sometimes merely a matter of scheduling. In the next couple of weeks, try to eliminate one or two things from your morning and night routine.

If morning is your downfall, shift some of your morning routines to the night before or put something off until your break at lunch.

If late afternoon and night are your downfall, do the same. Try to run an errand or two during lunch, then delegate some necessities for the morning hours.

You are trying to find a mere 30 minutes for extra sleep.

You will probably try harder for those sleep trades once you see how much better you feel with even 30 minutes more sleep.

Learn to Do Less

• Accept the limits of your energy. You can only produce so much.
• Give up your perfectionism; it makes you boring anyway.
• Establish boundaries with friends, relatives, co-workers, and bosses.
• Learn to say "no."
• Give yourself the same slack you allow others.

Night time

• You don't really need to watch the news. It's depressing. If something major happened today, you will find out tomorrow at work.
• At least skip the weather. Right after dinner, go to a major search engine; type in "national weather" and the name of your town. You can see a two-line weather report from the National Weather Service. This will save you several minutes of watching the weather on television.
• If reading helps you, take a boring book or magazine to bed with you. Paperbacks are not as heavy and are easier to read in bed. 
• If you have a partner or roommate, maybe you can take turns with a neck and shoulder massage at night in lieu of television.
• Meditation and yoga are both good sources of relaxation and thus, of sleep.

Make certain you are ready for sleep when you go to bed. Electronic items such as televisions, computers, and video games wake us up. Avoid them for at least an hour before you plan to go to bed. 

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Go to sleep!

Stay asleep. 
What is sleep?

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