WOD: “Helen-o-ween”

As many rounds as possible in 30 minutes

200m Run
10 KB Swings
5 Pull-ups

Post number of completed rounds to comments.

Astronomy aids recovery
by Dan Hollingsworth

In case you were unaware, this weekend marks the Autumnal Equinox. That means…EXTRA HOUR OF SLEEP…WOO HOO!!!

Who doesn’t love the Autumnal Equinox? I know that I, for one, do. I especially love it this year because I am finding myself in the biggest sleep debt I have been in for a very long time. As much as I love what I am doing right now, and wouldn’t trade it for anything, getting this business off the ground while working 4 days in the clinic and still trying to find time to be a father and husband can wreak havoc on one’s sleep cycle. I am, as our friend John Burch would say, “Burning the candle at both ends and trying to light it twice in the middle.” Not only is this causing me to be overly tired it is also playing a role in my decreased performance in the gym lately.

Getting adequate sleep plays a huge role in our ability to recover from intense exercise. It is during the deepest stages of sleep that our body releases the hormones that coordinate the repairs that need to take place. Want to know how important sleep is to an athlete, just take a look at a world-class athlete’s schedule. It usually looks something like this: Eat, workout, eat, sleep, eat, workout or sleep, eat, workout, sleep then repeat. This article gives a good summary of why sleep is so important, not only for athletic performance, but for life in general.

When the U.S. Olympians were training for the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, the USOC brought in a sleep specialist to redesign all 160 hotel rooms at the Hilton in Colorado Springs, CO. Their goal was to design the most sleep-friendly facility possible to maximize the athlete’s ability to recover from the demanding training schedules. This article explains the extent they went to in redesigning the hotel and also outlines why these changes were made.

We all know that sleep is important. We may not know all the scientific reasons, but intuitively we know it’s a good thing. The sad reality is that many of us are missing out on adequate sleep because of poor organizational skills and misguided leisure activities – not because we are so busy we just don’t have the time to sleep. I know I’m guilty of this. Saturday night, however, I plan on taking full advantage of the extra hour of sleep I am being granted by this most fortunate annual positioning of the Earth in relation to the Sun.