84 Wake Up refreshed for Lifelong Vitality
While sleep keeps your immune system young (
63), fends off cognitive decline (32), and can even help you combat midlife weight gain (19), probably the most obvious benefit to a good night’s rest is having enough energy during the day. Once you reach your mid-thirties you may start to notice that you don’t have as much energy as you used to. That’s partly because of age-related sleep changes, such as shifting circadian rhythms that make you want to go to bed and wake up earlier. The sleep-regulating hormone melatonin also decreases with age, meaning you feel less sleepy at night and may find it harder to doze off. And although experts don’t fully understand why, older adults spend less time in deep, energy-restoring sleep, making chronic insomnia a common late-life complaint. Health problems, medications, changing hormones, and stress can also sabotage your slumber—in fact, up to 80 percent of older adults with four or more health problems report poor sleep, according to the National Sleep Foundation. But fatigue is not an inevitable part of aging. The first step in maintaining sky-high energy levels as you get older is to improve the quality (and quantity, if necessary) of your sleep.
Sleep Deeply As You Get Older
Although your risk of sleep problems increases as you get older, you can employ several strategies to ensure satisfying sleep. First, ask your doctor if any of your medications or a health condition might be aggravating insomnia. For example, older adults are more likely to report sleep disorders such as restless legs syndrome or obstructive sleep apnea, according to a 2010 study in the French journal Psychologie & NeuroPsychiatrie du Vieillissement. Next, examine your sleep hygiene. To help you nod off, stick to a consistent sleep schedule, avoid stimulating activities before bed, exercise regularly, and use stress-management techniques (85) so worry doesn’t keep you up.
Once you fall asleep, you want to stay asleep—waking up frequently in the middle of the night pretty much guarantees you’ll be wiped out the next day. To minimize interruptions, turn off the TV and radio (or put them on a timer so they don’t run all night), keep your bedroom dark, limit late-night liquid intake to reduce trips to the bathroom, and cut back on caffeine and alcohol. If you still have problems sleeping, you may want to try a natural sleep aid like melatonin (63). A dose of 0.25 milligrams is safe to take long-term.
Wake Up Well for Daytime Pep
Try these a.m. tactics for all-day energy. Light is one of the most important cues to your circadian clock, according to a 2010 study in the journal Sleep Medicine Reviews. Exposing yourself to light first thing in the morning signals to your body that it’s time to get up and go, making it easier to bound out of bed. In the summer, you might try sleeping with your curtains open to take advantage of the sunlight streaming in, but when the sun doesn’t rise so early, you can use an alarm clock that rouses you from sleep with a light that gradually gets brighter (many have backup measures like beepers to ensure you don’t snooze past your set wake-up time).
Another strategy is to get moving as soon as you open your eyes. Instead of lounging in bed, work in some activity right away, whether it’s doing a few gentle stretches or dancing along to a favorite song. This gets your blood flowing, loosens your muscles, and gives you a dose of energizing oxygen.
For instant invigoration, give yourself a quick blast of cold water in the shower, splash it on your face, or gargle with it—the sudden temperature change shakes off morning fogginess. If you can’t bear the shock of cold water, give yourself an invigorating rubdown with a washcloth or loofah to get your blood flowing (use a body wash or soap with an energizing scent for extra help waking up). Mint-flavored toothpaste can also give you a subtle boost by acting on a nerve in your brain that helps you feel more energized.