Sleep Illiteracy? Sleep Education? Sleep Management? Is it really a big deal? We’ve all been sleeping our entire lives, but do we even think about sleep correctly?  Luke Gupta graduated from the University of Bath with a B.Sc in Sport and Exercise Science and completed an M.Sc in Exercise Physiology at Loughborough University. Currently, Luke is conducting a part-time PhD Studentship into Sleep and Athletic Performance in collaboration with the English Institute of Sport.  He worked with some of the Rio Olympians across many different sports on their sleep habits. In this episode, Luke shares with us what his research and experience has shown him about how the function and significance of sleep in an athlete's life.  The way Luke talks about ‘sleep’, it sounds like an actual entity with it’s own set of rules.  For those of us who have spent many nights waiting anxiously for sleep to overtake our racing minds, he may not be far off. How can people who have difficulty falling asleep learn these rules and thus manipulate them to our advantage?  Listen as Luke decodes the inner workings of sleep, confronts myths that have permeated our ‘understanding’ of sleep and gives us all practical methods for getting all the sleep we’ll ever need.  Here are some of the topics we’ll discuss today: The roles our genetic and early adolescent personality traits play in determining the sports we excel in. Is 8 hours a night really the magic number for sleep for everyone? Does going to bed early equate to more rest? How Circadian Rhythms affect our sleep habits. Why your bed should not be a multitasker. Internal vs. External sleep aids Performance vs. well-being Is it possible to front-load sleep before a race? Questions Luke is asked: 3:30 How did you get into your current field and position? 6:05 Has your experience reaffirmed that this is the area you want to focus on? 6:51 What does your job look like? What are some of your favorite parts of working with athletes regarding sleep and performance? 9:05 How did you help the Rio Olympians optimize their sleep for their competitions? 11:12 What differences did you see between the different types of sports / athletes? 15:01 Does all this apply to recreational athletes as well as Elite Athletes? 17:05 What are some common myths about sleep and can you debunk them? 18:40 How does anyone know what their optimal amount of sleep is? 22:45 What if someone gets up unusually early, say for a 4:00 a.m. flight; what should they do to catch back up on their sleep? 24:45 Other myths you’d like to bust? 26:46 What has your researched uncovered about how sleep affects changes to performance, motivation and physiology? 31:12 What are some of the things that you’ve found help people fall asleep? 34:17 If someone’s mind won’t shut down when they’re trying to fall asleep, what should they do? 38:13 What are the pros and cons of using sleep aids? 43:18 Other suggested sleep aids or behavioral sleep aids? 45:04 How can we avoid psyching ourselves out while waiting to fall asleep? 47:17 Based on your research, how close is the correlation to sleep and performance? 50:53 What should someone do to manage anxiety the night before a race?  54:03 Do you have any planned research we can keep up to date with? 58:40 The Final Kick Round Quotes by Luke: “My research recently found that there’s big differences between sports and how the athletes sleep and perceive sleep.” “Listen to your body.” “Sleep is quite an automated process in that if you’ve had a bad night’s sleep one night, the next night’s sleep will, more likely than not, be that much better given the opportunity. That’s just how sleep works.” “You can’t just say if you’ve had a bad night’s sleep you’re going to perform poorly.” “The way sleep works is: the longer you stay awake, the sleepier you feel.” “When you try to do anything with sleep, that’s when it tends to go wrong.” Mentioned in this podcast:  Dr. James Maas on Run To The Top podcast Dr. James Maas Pill