I took a huge sleep hit last night from my evening tennis match. Just 5h 49m of sleep out of 8h 26m in bed with a 69% sleep efficiency and 56 total sleep score.
It was rough… I finished playing around 9:15pm and wasn’t able to spend much time on recovery. I took care of my responsibilities around the home, took my pre-sleep supplements, showered and laid down to sleep (or tried to sleep).
About 45 minutes in, I could tell my heart rate was elevated, my body was aching and I started feeling hungry.
I got out of bed and took a couple of Aleve followed by a few tablespoons of peanut butter and a glass of grapefruit juice.
I rested a bit in the living room and then returned to bed. I slept lightly for a few hours and then started feeling uncomfortable. From there, I got out of bed and moved to the couch for a couple of hours and was able to sleep for a bit more. Then I returned to bed to finish out the night with a couple more hours of light sleep…
My lowest heart rate for the night was above average at 46bpm and that didn’t occur until around 5:00am. My readiness score for today was just 65 with a “listen to your body” message.
Here’s a snapshot of the activity that took a toll on my sleep last night:
Was it worth it?
For me it was because playing tennis is a huge joy and I haven’t been able to play in a few weeks. In the future, I’ll definitely try to avoid evening matches but if I do play in the evening I’ll do more upon returning home to recover such as taking an epsom salt bath and spending some time in my massage chair. It will be interesting to see how much of a difference these things could make for my sleep after a match.
Tonight I plan to return to the habits and routines that have been helping me sleep better. Let’s see if one full day of active recovery gets me back on track.
Pre-sleep supplements taken: 50mg Double Wood Apigenin, 5g Bulk Supplements Glycine, 6 capsules Global Healing Center Oxy-Powder, 360mg Trace Minerals Magnesium Glycinate, 3mg Pure Encapsulations Melatonin, 500mg Pure Encapsulations L-Tryptophan, 1tsp Manuka Honey
Stone Evans is the founder of SleepCoaching.com which has become one of the most popular destinations online for people seeking better sleep. Stone started developing this website after realizing his own sleep struggles and then beginning an intensive period of study (which included professional sleep coach training) and ongoing lifestyle changes to improve and optimize his sleep.
Now through in-depth articles from sleep experts around the world, the internet's leading and most comprehensive sleep coaching directory, quantitative sleep product reviews and Stone's personal daily sleep tracking journey, visitors to our website regularly report gaining information and insights that are helping them achieve better health, better sleep and a better quality of life.
