Not Getting Enough Sleep....Here's What I Do

I’ve always struggled with getting deep quality sleep for the most part of my professional career, which is not quite as long as this statement makes it sound. This biggest contributor towards less sleep for me has been Stress. I tried all the random stuff I’d find online or as advice from all the so called experts (read friends/colleagues) like drinking hot milk, washing feet before sleeping, etc. which makes perfect sense now, as to why it didn't work for me. We usually fall asleep at night due to the melatonin levels that are at their peak after sunset. Cortisol a.k.a the stress hormone makes sure that melatonin does not do its job and hammers it down. The plus side of cortisol is that it wakes us up in the morning and is the most effective hormone when it comes to building muscle, even more than testosterone.

Over the years I’ve come up with some strategies that’ve helped me cope with this issue and now on most days I sleep like I did 10 years ago although for slightly less duration. Following are three things that’ve helped me get more quality sleep and add numbers to the clock in recent times :

1. Zinc & Magnesium: Every time I supplemented with Zinc & Magnesium my sleep skyrocketed. Both minerals is found in most multivitamins and get the job done for me. I personally prefer 15 - 20 mg of zinc from a good supplemental source usually a basic multivitamin with lunch. Apart from acting as a sleep enhancer, I’ve found that it helps me deal with daily stress better and also boots Testosterone during those high stress work days making me perform better during the day and in my training sessions at the gym. To also add to this, there is no concrete evidence that these minerals will help with sleep for everyone. Maybe I was deficient in it and on adding it to my diet, it worked for me. 
2. Stretching: This is probably something which is not as impactful as the above one but it still does the trick. I’ve always stretched after my training sessions and little did I know that most of those stretches and flexibility exercises would resemble traditional yoga exercises. After all of my strength training sessions, I take roughly 20 minutes and usually perform static stretches for few seconds and repeat once more. On a lower body training day, for example, I will stretch out the quads, hams, glutes, groin, hip flexors and calf. Similarly for upper body training days, I’ll hold the upper body muscles as a static hold for a few seconds to a minute. I’ve never been into yoga and don't really know much about it, but these stretches do help a lot to bring me back to a more sympathetic state from the para-sympthatic one I go into during the workouts.
3. Thoughts before bed: This one has helped me a lot recently as it has not only brought my focus towards the things I want to do but also what I’ve done previously. Thirty minutes before bed, I take time out as I gather all my thoughts, thinking of only the positive ones, like planning out what I want to do tomorrow, what I did today and what is lacking in me today that I should get better at tomorrow by learning something new. Previously, I have tried going to bed with all the negativity around me and five hours later I was still awake.

Some other things which can also affect sleep are room temperature, bed temperature, unchanged/untidy bed sheets and pillow covers, mattress and pillow hardness/softness, sound/noise in the room or around it, electronic device usage (Mobile/T.V./Laptop) before going off to sleep, pre bed meal (dinner usually), gas/bloating, etc. It is better to try and correct these small things first before going on for supplementation for sleep improvement.

Note: This is what I do because it works for me. If you have any known or undiagnosed sleep disorder, you're better off consulting a qualified professional like a doctor or a therapist. Before starting/changing an exercise, dietary and supplementation program consult a qualified doctor/health care professional.