Sleep is INCREDIBLY important...for health in general and for building muscle and losing fat.

In fact, one of the fastest ways to improve your results in the gym is not a fancy supplement or new program...it's to get some dang sleep!

However, it's not always just as simple as going to bed earlier.

You might find yourself lying there, staring at the ceiling, while your brain chatters on and on about everything that happened that day and everything you have to do tomorrow.

You look at the alarm clock and the numbers just keep clicking forward... 1 am, 2 am, 3:30 am... and you still can't get to sleep.

My wife has this problem...she can't shut her brain off and everything just keeps racing around in there. She wishes she had my ability to just shut my brain off and be asleep within moments.

 

Here's a simple technique that can help you shut your brain off...

It's a breathing technique to get relaxed and fall asleep easier.

• Sit up straight with your head facing forward and your shoulders relaxed.
• Inhale and think about filling your belly and lungs with air.
• With your shoulders nice and relaxed, take a deep breath through your nose. Fill your lungs with air and hold that for 2 seconds.
• Breathe out through your nose until you’ve complete emptied your belly and lungs of air and hold that for another 2 seconds.
• And repeat 5 times.

Side Note: A few rounds of focused deep breathing is typically enough to change your physiology and put you in a relaxed state. For some, however, it may take a few more rounds to achieve the desired outcome. If that’s you, continue this breathing meditation for a few more rounds.

Not able to relax despite attempting deep breathing meditation? Try this...

While you’re lying in bed, take a deep breath, breathing in for 5 seconds. Hold that breath for 5 seconds and then release that same breath for another 5 seconds. Hold out the breath for 5 seconds and repeat. Do this a few times and then shift your focus to your breathing until you fall asleep.

This is often known as "combat breathing"...used by soldiers to slow down their nervous system so they can function.

Obviously, you're not in combat...you're trying to go to sleep. The same principle applies, though... this breathing technique takes you down to a lower level of activation.