Week of Workouts and Sleep

Week of Workouts:
--Friday: leisurely run around San Diego bay area outside our hotel. Total: 40 min
--Saturday: Walked a lot. Quickly. In the rain.
--Sunday: travel day (= very sedentary)
--Monday: warmup and 5-5-5-5-5 shoulder press (45, 55, 55, 65, 55lbs). Total: 25 min
--Tuesday: 21-15-9 reps of: 25" box jumps, 45lb power snatch, pull ups (14:15). After I recovered, I did 5 rounds of: 20 bosu situps and 5 toes to bar. Walked a mile. Total: 1h 5 min
--Wednesday: 5 rounds for time: 15 45lb thruster, 15 burpees (14:30). This workout left me flat on my back exhausted.  I then jumped rope, walked a little, and did 3 sets of 20 tricep dips on our paralettes.  Total: 48 min
--Thursday: AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) in 20 minutes of: 5 pull ups, 10 14lb wall ball throws, 15 1pood KB swing.  (Made it through 9 rounds).  After recovery, walked a mile. Total: 52 min.


On my Friday run, I snapped these photos of the San Diego coast and skyline.  I also found the names of the boats very entertaining.

On Sleep:

I have always valued sleep. My husband and family can vouch for that.  I experienced the effects of sleep deprivation during my Internal Medicine intern year, and have vowed "never again!"  Fortunately, dermatology is a much better world for those that value sleep as much as I do. Since reading on paleo, I have learned so much more about the importance of quality and quantity of sleep.  Mark Sisson has many great articles like here and here.  To summarize some of his main points: lack of sleep can undo all of our healthy diet and exercise by pumping out cortisol and other "fight or flight" hormones that make us store fat and want to eat more. Sleep helps prevent chronic diseases, stabilizes mood, improves memory, and maintains weight (amongst many other things).  Most adults need 7-9 hours of sleep each night, but quality counts too.  Here are some things I have tried to do to improve my sleep quality:

• Sleep in a DARK, cool room.  This means blackout curtains and no alarm clock light.
• Try to keep the same hours as much as possible, even on weekends.
• Limit caffeine after noon.
• If sleep deprived or just extra exhausted, I try not to set an alarm for that 5AM workout.

I encourage everyone to read up on sleep, so you can use it as an excuse to get as much of it as possible!

Lauren