Check out this virtual Walk with a Doc event with Dr. Sowmya Patil, M4 Medical Student Carly Waddell and Dr. Alexa Martin!
Easy Lunch Recipe
Financial Wellness Events for August
Check out our printable and email friendly version of the August Financial Wellness events flyer!
14 Days to Better Sleep
By: Caris Talburt Fitzgerald, MD, assistant professor of Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine at UAMS
If you have found yourself having sleep problems, the following is a very specific list of rules that you can follow to help bring your arousal down and push your internal sleep drives much higher for better sleep. The only thing is that when you decide to try to improve your sleep with these rules, you must not cherry pick the list (meaning you must follow every rule at the same time) and you must continue following all the rules together for 14 consecutive days. You can expect to see benefit the 15th day.
START WITH A FIXED WAKE TIME. If you are not sleeping well at night, the last thing you should do is sleep in. Instead, you must channel that leftover sleepiness into deeper sleep the next night. This remains true even if you stayed up late on purpose the night before. Our drive into sleep grows stronger the more predictable our wake time has been. Brains thrive on a consistent wake time! It is an essential part of good sleeping habits.
PUT 16-17 HOURS BETWEEN SLEEP PERIODS (AVOID NAPPING). Napping or resting the eyes at any point during the day subtracts from the push the body will get into deep sleep that night. Focus your body’s drive for sleep to the most appropriate time, which is at night, in line with your circadian rhythm in one long period.
AVOID ALCOHOL. Many people believe that alcohol helps them with sleep and initially it often does. Unfortunately, the rest of the night is much lighter and less refreshing than it would have been otherwise if you have alcohol in your system.
AVOID NICOTINE. Nicotine withdrawal starts after two hours and is very stimulating to your brain. You cannot get as good of rest if your brain is repeatedly going into nicotine withdrawal.
AVOID CAFFEINE. This includes coffee, tea, and most sodas as well as chocolate. Caffeine is a blocker into deep sleep. For some this means insomnia and for others it may just mean that the sleep is not as restful.
AVOID EXCESS ACID PRODUCTION BEFORE BED (ALCOHOL, HEAVY MEALS, LATE MEALS, SPICY, OR SUGARY FOODS 4-6 HOURS BEFORE BED). If you have reflux, it may serve to repeatedly lighten your sleep throughout the night, leading to less restful sleep and is known to cause problems with nasal flow in the night.
NO BRIGHT LIGHT THE HOUR BEFORE BED, INCLUDING TV, COMPUTER, CELL PHONE SCREENS, AND FLUORESCENT LIGHTING. Your body needs to be without bright light to create the right neurochemical/hormonal environment for sleep. This cannot be done if you are staring at a bright light source.
WHITE NOISE IS OKAY, BUT NO MUSIC OR TV. Changes in tone and volume serve to lighten sleep and make your night less restful.
EXERCISE REGULARLY, BUT NOT RIGHT BEFORE BED. Regular exercise, particularly in the afternoon can help deepen sleep. Strenuous exercise within two-three hours of bedtime, however, may decrease your ability to fall asleep on time.
RESERVE THE BED FOR SLEEP AND SEX. Do not use the bedroom as an office, workroom, or recreation room. Your brain must be trained to associate your bed with sleep.
DO NOT STAY IN YOUR BED IF YOU CANNOT SLEEP. If you do not think you will be able to quickly return to sleep, you should get up and go to another room to do something quiet in dim light (NO SCREEN TIME) until you feel sleepy enough to try again.
ESTABLISH A BEDTIME ROUTINE. Pre-sleep rituals, such as a warm bath or a few minutes of reading, especially when done consistently without bright light, will send clues to your brain that the time to sleep is coming.
DON’T TAKE YOUR WORRIES TO BED. From bedtime to wake, your only job is to rest. Any and all worries should be reserved for non-sleep hours. If a worry comes to you, acknowledge it and let it go. Try refocusing on a happy memory, or more specifically, try to remember as many small details as you can about a favorite day in your past.
DO NOT STARE AT YOUR ALARM CLOCK. This only increases your anxiety about the time you have left to sleep before your wake time. Set your alarm, turn it away from you, and do not peak until it alerts you to wake. Always assume when you wake up that you have plenty more time to sleep. Remember that if you happen to get poor sleep one night, but you stick to these rules, that sleep debt will only help force a deeper sleep the next night to get you back on track.
If these interventions are not successful for your sleep problem when done altogether for a full 14-day duration, you likely need to visit with a sleep physician.
Five Dumbbell Combo Moves
Dumbbells are an excellent tool for a home gym workout. However, bicep curls can become boring after a while. When done correctly, several exercises done with dumbbells can be combined to create an increased challenge and more effective workout. If you have a pair of dumbbells at home, consider adding these exercises to your next workout.
Lunge with Arm Curl, 10-15 Reps Per Set
- After completing the curl, stand out of the lunge
- Repeat with the opposite leg
Hang Clean to Press, 5-10 Reps Per Set
Push-Up Rows, 5-10 Reps Per Set
- Return the DB to the ground and repeat on the other side
- This is one rep when the row has been completed with both arms
Dumbbell Row with Tricep Extension, 10-15 Reps Per Set on Each Side of the Body
- Return the DB to the side of the chest and lower the DB to the starting position
DB Deadlift-Snatch
- Lower the weight back to the hips, that is one rep
- Repeat, alternating arms each time
Pawfect Workout Partner
Paws up, who likes working out alone? Workout partners or friends training together is a common sight in any gym, even more so in a university setting. Personally, I prefer strength training on my own for the most part. Although, there is a lot of good that comes from having a partner on heavy deadlift day. Some activities are just better with someone else. Sometimes, that someone else doesn’t even have to be human. Over the past several weeks, more hikes and family bike rides have replaced the steady diet of strength training that used to be my norm. The extra family time with my wife and three boys has been great, but perhaps most greatly benefited Ginger, our 11-year-old German shorthaired pointer.
Ginger was a somewhat mutual anniversary gift to each other, but more a gift to me, on our first anniversary. I never had a dog growing up. Like many young married couples, we decided to test run our imaginary parenting skills on a puppy. My wife and I quickly discovered that Ginger was not an inside dog. At 3 months old, she could take three steps and hurdle the couch. The little two-bedroom home that we rented at the time proved to be not much more than an glorified kennel for her.
Throughout the years Ginger has been a great family pet. Unlike many pets, I have proven to be her reluctant running partner rather than her being mine. I am not a fan of running; she will run until she passes out from exhaustion. Ginger is also an escape artist and quickly learned how to open the latch on an unlocked gate. I am certain that she ran me more because of this than I ever intentionally ran with her.
In her younger days Ginger had the athleticism to easy clear a chain-link fence, although she never did jump one. I guess she decided to work smarter rather than work harder. There is probably a lesson in that. As frustrating as this COVID-19 time is, the smarter we are now with social distancing, better hygiene and greater concern for the health and well-being of others around us, the easier this time will be and the sooner it will be over. It is better to be smart and have this struggle for a few months than to be hardheaded and have it last a few years.
Like all creatures, Ginger’s health has deteriorated over that last few years. With the birth over our third son in 2018, having the time to give her the attention and exercise she needs has been a challenge. She has developed arthritis in her hips and a heart murmur that makes it sound like she has a smoker’s cough. Health problems become more common in all creatures as they age, and family dogs are no exception. However, even in the older years, exercise can create positive change. Arthritis in the hips makes the stairs difficult in dogs and humans, but over the last few weeks as walks have become daily occurrences instead of once or twice a week, her movement and gait have improved. These daily walks have benefitted our entire family, as the older boys ride bikes while my wife and I hike with the toddler in a pack or stroller.
In this time of fear and uncertainty, it can be easy to be far too concerned with the quantity of the days that we have rather than the quality of those days. Given her age and health problems, Ginger’s days are drawing toward a close. Just because the times may sometimes feel like the end is near is not a reason to stop living. Rather than counting the days of quarantine or the days a family member may have left, let us make the days count. An old dog may not learn new tricks, but a little exercise will breathe some life into that pup at heart.
Financial Events Flyer for July
UAMS Fitness and Wellness Bingo Challenge
Join the fun starting July 10th!
RULES: BINGO participants will be added to a drawing to receive a prize upon completion of five consecutive spaces (vertically or horizontally) on the card. Beginning July 10, three winners will be drawn every Friday and may receive prizes from UAMS swag or even a FREE MONTH membership! Email your card to gethealthy@uams.edu each week before 2 p.m. Friday to be added to the drawing. To receive additional submissions, take photos or videos completing the BINGO challenge, tag us @gethealthyuams on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter using #UAMSbingowellness.
Ends August 7, 2020.
Budgeting 101
We asked Janice Nottenkamper from the UAMS Debt Management program to talk about how to start taking control of our finances with simple budgeting advice for all!
At Home Workout Tips Library
Did you miss our at home workout tips from UAMS Fitness Center Manager Adam Carter? Check them all out!