Are you lacking in energy because you are always tired? Is it affecting your sporting performance?

What if you could get your energy and vigour back? Think back to those times when you had all the energy in the world. You were training hard and excelling in your chosen sport. You were at the top and difficult to beat. I'm going to tell you how you can get back to those days in just 30 minutes.

Want to understand more?

As I am sure you already know fatigue impacts on our physical and mental performance. Our judgement become impaired when we are fatigued and our reaction times slow. We also suffer physically. On objective scientific tests they showed that fatigue impairs performance in sprint tests, in jump height tests and in muscle strength tests. If you are fatigued you will be less effective on the field and less effective in training – leading to a greater decline in performance on the field. However, all is not lost. With a little knowledge you can make informed decisions and small changes with big positive impact.

Let me tell you how.

The main cause of tiredness and fatigue is getting insufficient and / or poor quality sleep. The problem is that most people know they are tired but don't know how to make simple changes with real impact. When you understand how easy it can be to make even small changes you will instantly see the difference.

As an adult you need 7 to 8 hours of good quality sleep each night. The problem is that in the modern world even when people do achieve enough sleep it is often of poor quality. That means you are not going to the different stages of sleep that you need. Also bear in mind that top athletes when they are in hard training often sleep for 10 hours a night AND take a nap during the day. They have shown in swimmers and basketball players that performance improves when in hard training when the athlete sleeps 10 hours a night. You may not be at the elite level but bear in mind that if you are not getting the recommended amount of sleep you will suffer.

So what do you need to know to get sufficient good quality sleep?

I'm going to give you a helping hand here and a few tips. Firstly make sure you finish your training or exercise at least two hours before bed time. Exercise – whilst very good for restful sleep – is also a form of stress on our bodies. As I am sure you are aware stress (mental or physical) and sleep do not go well together. The next tip may seem obvious but you'd be surprised how many people (in any setting) don't follow this simple tip. That is leave yourself enough time to get the sleep you need. Do not sacrifice sleep – it is not a good investment of time!

I want you to understand lots more about how you can achieve sufficient good quality sleep, some important basic sleep science, the impact of sleep on health and performance as well as hints and interventions on contributors and barriers to sufficient good quality sleep. It's more than I can cover in this article.