Introduction to SDS
We believe there are three components of your lifestyle that have the greatest impact on your success both inside and outside of the gym - sleep, diet, and stress (SDS). When it comes to working towards your fitness goals, training is only a part of the equation. Without adequate recovery habits, your hard work in the gym won’t result in the improvements you’re looking for.
We view each of these areas as its own habit to build, and we find focusing on 1-3 habits at a time sets clients up for the most success. The first stage of habit development, like most new things in life, can feel uncomfortable and laborious. This initial hump requires discipline, consistency, and conscious thought. However, once the habit becomes ingrained (somewhere between 3 weeks - 2 months of consistency), the actions become automatic and no longer require the same effort to sustain.
This guide is meant to serve as an introduction to SDS and to serve as a reference for why developing these good habits is important, as well as actionable steps you can take to begin implementing them into your life.
SLeep
Sleep is an essential function that allows your body and mind to recover and recharge. Sleep is the period when your body is able to effectively repair tissues to drive physical adaptations and support immunity to stave off disease. Sleep is also essential for cognitive health — without it the brain cannot function properly. This can impair your abilities to concentrate, think clearly, and process memories. In a nutshell, sleep is perhaps the most important factor in allowing you to feel your best both physically and mentally as you move through life.
How much sleep do I need, and what counts as “quality” sleep?
Most adults require 7 - 9 hours of sleep per night, with children and teenagers needing significantly more as they are in peak development. Sleep quality is defined as being able to fall asleep within 30 minutes of being in bed and you are able to sleep through the night without more than 1-2 disruptions.
How to tell if you are not getting enough sleep, or enough quality sleep
Some common signs of not getting enough sleep include, but are not limited to:
Brain fog
Getting sick often
Moodiness, irritability, or feeling “down”
Workouts feel difficult and you are not seeing progress towards your goals
Work schedules, day-to-day stressors, or a disruptive bedroom environment can all prevent us from getting enough sleep. It has been suggested that people can develop a tolerance to chronic sleep deprivation. Even though their brains and bodies struggle due to lack of sleep, they may not be aware of their own deficiencies because less sleep feels normal to them. You have likely come across people in your life who brag about being able to function off of 6, 4, or even 3 hours of sleep per night, but we want you to know that poor sleep habits are nothing to boast about.
Sleep hygiene and best practices
Sleep hygiene refers to the habits and behaviours you have surrounding sleep. If you resonated with one or more of the items listed above, you may have poor sleep hygiene. This section will discuss some actions you can take to improve your sleep habits with the hope of improving both the quantity and quality of your nightly rest.
Keep a regular schedule - Our bodies like regularity; try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every night. Count backwards from when you need to wake up to ensure you are getting 7-9 hours.
Be mindful of caffeine - Try to avoid caffeine-containing beverages within 8-9 hours of your bedtime. For example, if you go to bed at 10pm, have your last cup of coffee no later than 1 o’clock.
Eat and drink appropriately - Plan to eat dinner 2-3 hours before bed, as digesting food may make it more diffcicult to fall asleep. In addition, try not to drink too much liquid to limit bathroom breaks during the night.
Sleep in a dark, quiet, and cool room - Try to limit light and noise as much as possible, and sleep in a room that is cool. Your optimal temperature may vary, but 15-20°C seems to be the best.
Get morning sunlight and fresh air - Exposing yourself to sunlight as soon as possible upon waking helps to set your circadian rhythm (your body’s natural clock). Or, if you are a shift worker, try to get lots of bright light and movement when you should normally be awake.
Turn off electronics - Digital devices and blue light stimulate our brain. We recommend unplugging from all screens at least 30 minutes before bed.
Have a bedtime routine - Whether it consists of stretching, brushing your teeth, or journalling, employing a regular nightly routine helps to signal to your brain that it is time for sleep.
The above list may seem daunting. As we discussed earlier, it is best to focus on 1-3 habits at a time, this is not all-or-nothing. Try implementing 1-3 of these practices for a few weeks and reevaluating how you feel. if you find that your sleep is not improving, that’s okay! Perhaps that habit is not the one for you. Select a different one and try again until you find what works for your unique mind and body.
Diet
When we refer to “diet” we do not mean “a diet” such as keto, paleo, or the like. Instead, we view your diet as your broader nutrition habits as a whole. The three primary principles that constitute your nutrition are quantity (how much you eat), quality (the types of foods you choose), and timing (when you eat).
Before jumping in, we recognize that nutrition is a very broad and complex topic. This section is not meant to overwhelm you with novel information, but to instead provide an overview of the foundational principles that go into our food choices.
We want to eat a variety of nutrient-dense foods in amounts that are supportive of our individual lifestyles, activities, and goals.
quantity
The primary driver of performance and changes in body composition is food quantity. When determining the right amount of food for you, we want to consider how much you need to support your daily life and the activities you want to do, without eating to promote excess body fat. There are four components that comprise your total daily energy expenditure, or TDEE.
BMR (Basal metabolic rate) - This is the largest contributor and accounts for all of the functions your body performs on a daily basis, such as brain function and tissue repair. To put it simply, this is the energy you would expend if you were to lay in bed all day.
TEF (Thermic effect of food) - This covers the energy required to digest and manage the food that you eat. Some nutrients, such as protein, require more energy to be broken down by the body.
NEAT (Non-exercise activity thermogenesis) - This encapsulates all of the movements you perform throughout the day when you are not consciously “exercising”. This includes everything from your morning commute, to taking a flight of stairs, to simply unloading the dishwasher.
Exercise - Every muscle contraction you do in order to perform work requires energy.
Determining the specific amount of food you need is best accomplished via trial and error. Stay consistent with one amount for a period of 1-2 weeks and then evaluate how your body is responding by assessing weight changes, body composition, and energy levels. From here, depending on your goals, you can audit your intake to support performance (eating at this amount or slightly more) or weight loss (eating slightly below).
Quality
The two elements that we look at to assess food quality are macronutrients and micronutrients.
Macronutrients are the three energy-yielding molecules that make up every single food we eat. They are carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Behind quantity, your macronutreint ratio is the biggest driver of your performance and body composition. Each of these molecules serves a very specific role, and we require all 3 to thrive:
Carbohydrates - Our primary fuel source. Our bodies convert carbohydrates into glucose, which we use to fuel all physical and mental activities.
4 calories/gram
Examples of carbohydrates are grains, pasta, bread products, starchy vegetables, fruits, and sugary foods
Protein - The key recovery nutrient and our body’s “building block”. It is used to repair all tissues in the body (i.e. muscle), and also serves many roles in other bodily processes, such as immunity.
4 calories/gram
Examples of proteins are meats, poultry, eggs, fish, legumes, and dairy products
Fats - Fats are essential for several reasons, including regulating hormone production, brain health, and aiding in absorption of other key vitamins and minerals from food.
9 calories/gram
Examples of fats are oils, butter, nuts, avocados, and fattier/marbled cuts of meat
Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals that your body needs to promote countless processes in immune function, development, and well-being. The number of micronutrients and their functions is vast, but deficiencies in any one of them can be quite harmful to your body. The best way to ensure you are meeting your micronutrient needs is to eat a variety of whole foods, prioritizing colourful fruits and vegetables.
Timing
Of the three components of our diet, timing is the relatively least important. However, nutrient timing is still valuable to support energy stability throughout the day and to feel fueled for your training sessions. Having 3-4 spaced out meals per day will help you avoid energy crashes and will ensure that your body is getting the most out of the nutrients. Spacing out your protein, for example, has been shown to be more effective for muscle growth as opposed to a large amount in one sitting.
For those with more performance-oriented goals, timing your carbohydrate consumption around your training sessions can be very useful. Since carbohydrates are our body’s preferred fuel source, having them prior to a workout will give you that extra fuel you need to train. You also want to include carbohydrates after your workout to replenish your energy stores in addition to protein in order to kick-start the recovery process.
In summary
Nutrition is an incredibly complex topic, full of nuance and individual consideration. This section only just scratched the surface. If you would like to dive deeper into your personal nutrition, we encourage you to reach out to a registered dietitian. We have included the contact information of Christine Gemmell, RD, at the bottom of this page as an excellent resource to help you get started.
Stress
A stressor is something that triggers stress — emotional or physical tension from a perceived challenge, demand, or threat. A stressor might be a singular occurrence or event, or the culmination of many things over time.
Some common examples of stressors include:
Feeling overwhelmed by responsibilities or pressure due to work, family issues, or school
Worry about a situation where there isn’t much control over the outcome
Conflict, such as an argument with a friend or loved one
Encountering sudden and/or major life changes
A situation that challenges you physically or mentally
Stress can manifest physically, such as an increased heart/breathing rate or muscle tension, or psychologically, such as irritability, difficulty concentrating, or feeling anxious. High amounts of stress can also have a negative effect on sleep (see the section above for the consequences of poor sleep).
Acute (short-term) stressors, such as exercise, can actually be beneficial. The stress response is natural to keep us safe and focused, and to drive physical adaptations so that we can handle more next time. The key word here is acute. Chronic (long-term) exposure to stressors is the opposite of beneficial. It puts your body in a perpetual state of “fight or flight” in which our sympathetic nervous system is activated. When in this heightened state, our bodies are not able to tap into the “rest and digest” parasympathetic system to allow for recovery. High amounts of stress are also closely linked to suppression of our immune system, leading to a greater risk of injury or disease.
As you can see, mitigating stress as much as possible is critical in maintaining health in our bodies and minds. But, the stress response is a natural part of life, as are all of the things that trigger it. While we can’t avoid stressors altogether, we can develop habits to manage how we respond to them.
Strategies for stress reduction and recovery improvement
Since everybody’s response to stress is different and often situation-dependent, there is not a one-size-fits-all solution to effective stress management. What works for one person in one situation will look drastically different from you in another situation. Learning about yourself and what works for you may be a long process, but the benefits of honing your personal strategies cannot be overstated. The following list provides some ideas of how you can reduce your stress and recover better.
Spend time outside - Sunlight, fresh air, and gentle movement all help to ground you (pun intended)
Set limits on screen time - Social media is notorious for exposing us to content that may rile up our sympathetic nervous systems. Take time to unplug and distance yourself from emails, social media, and negative news
Care for your body - Take time to stretch, go for a walk, get a massage, or take a warm bath to help connect with your body and release any physical tension you may be holding
Take up an enjoyable hobby - This could be anything; reading, art, learning a new skill, attending group classes for an activity you enjoy. You’ll not only get some time to focus on something that makes you happy, but you may also be around people whose company you enjoy
Exercise - Movement, especially with others, releases endorphins — chemicals in the brain that are the body's natural painkillers and mood elevators
Take ownership of your situation - Acknowledge what role you play in how your life is organized and if there is any room for improvement
Take time to reflect - Whether you meditate, pray, or journal, take time to sit with your thoughts and practice gratitude towards the things in your life that make you feel at peace. This may also look like writing a note to let someone know how much they mean to you
Gain perspective - Step back and think about your entire life, then consider how today’s stressor fits into the bigger picture
assess your sds
We encourage you to reflect on the following questions to gain a better understanding of your current recovery habits and where there may be room for improvement.
Sleep
How many hours of sleep do you get each night, on average? Are your sleep/wake times consistent?
Once in bed, how long does it take for you to fall asleep?
How many disturbances do you have in a night?
Do you wake up feeling refreshed and recovered?
Diet
How many meals and snacks do you have per day? Are they evenly spaced out?
How many servings (fist size) of protein do you have in a day?
Do you include a fruit or vegetable at every meal?
Stress
On a scale of 1-10 (1 = no stress at all, 10 = the most stressed you have ever felt) how would you rate your current daily stress level?
What are the primary stressors in your life right now?
Do you engage in any activities that reduce your stress? If so, how often do you do them?
Developing effective habits surrounding your sleep, diet, and stress is paramount in ensuring that your body stays healthy and resilient over time. Making lasting changes to your lifestyle is not something that happens overnight, nor should it be. Sustainable habits take consistency and discipline, as well as trial and error to find what works for you. The information and strategies presented above are meant to serve as a simple jumping off point. The lowest-hanging fruit, if you will. Adding 1-3 habits at a time will lay a sound foundation for recovery and capacity development, so that you are able to progress towards your goals.
*Nutrition Resource
Christine Gemmell - Registered Dietician & Sports Nutritionist
www.eminencenutrition.com
info@eminencenutrition.com
613 340 3564