Austin Cohen, Founder and CEO of FlexIt Fitness, sits down with Chase to discuss how he was able to keep the momentum going for his “a-la-carte digital fitness solution” in spite of the many setbacks and distractions throughout the past two years.

In fact, he says that it is the challenges themselves which incentivized him and his team at FlexIt to think up cutting-edge solutions that they never would have in the old, familiar normal.

The company’s focus, says Austin, has always been on “broadening access, of helping people understand that they can experience things that maybe they previously felt to be prohibitively costly, prohibitively inaccessible, or uncomfortable or intimidating.”

He says that one of the keys to being able to adapt to the situation at hand and adopt new ways of doing things is by staying determined to achieve the same goals one might have for their health and fitness, but being willing to consider options that may be outside one’s comfort zone.

Austin points to three major developments that the pandemic has spurred on within the fitness industry (and how FlexIt has capitalized on them): livestreaming, pre-recorded content, and hardwire. “None of those categories are new,” he notes. “They just became more widely adopted, more widely marketed, and put in front of our faces more than they ever have been before.”

Finally, Austin talks about some of the unique opportunities that virtual training can offer to fitness professionals, and why conducting successful online sessions as a coach is a radically different beast from training clients in-person.

Follow Austin @austin_flexit

Follow Chase @chase_chewning

Key Highlights

• Austin and Chase share how, in the last two years, they’ve been able to achieve many of the same health and fitness goals they’ve had right before the pandemic through options that they’ve previously never considered.

• What opportunities have come up in the past 24 months that have allowed Austin to future-proof his business?

• Austin shares FlexIt’s “secret sauce” for helping clients get the most out of each and every workout session.

• Virtual training is a completely different beast from in-person training. Austin explains how both coaches and clients can best prepare for a virtual training experience.

• Austin explains h fitness professionals can thrive by adding virtual training to their list of services.

Powerful Quotes by Austin

• My mission here with FlexIt is to create flexible, non-intimidating, and empowering fitness experiences.

• It’s been a tough 24 months for the world; but, there is good that’s come from it. There are new experiences, new ways of adopting things, and a new focus on health and wellness.

• For us, personal training is not just about strength or powerlifting. It’s also about HIIT training, yoga, meditation, stretching, recovery, physical therapy, and nutrition. It’s everything that can help somebody live a healthier life.

• I’m not necessarily a believer in [New Year] resolutions. I believe in intentions. I believe in consistency, results, and goal-setting.

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Alexandra Zatarain is a Co-Founder of Eight Sleep, the world’s first sleep fitness company.

You’ve likely never heard of the term ‘sleep fitness’ because Alexandra and her husband created it. So, what is sleep fitness? Put simply, sleep fitness is a healthy state of sleep. 

It’s important that we talk about sleep not the context of illness, but in the context of vitality because sleep not only impacts the way you show up in the world each day, but it impacts your longevity, too. In fact, science shows that sleep is much more important to your health, longevity, and how you feel on a daily basis than anything else you can do for your health, including diet and exercise.

In this discussion, Alexandra and Chase talk about the power of sleep in living a healthier life, why sleep fitness takes a unique mindset approach, and how sleep affects mental health and longevity. Alexandra sheds light on how her sleep has changed throughout her life as well as her top tips for improving your quality of sleep. Plus, she shares her candid thoughts on the potential harmful effects of technology like 5G, EMF, and wifi and what Eight Sleep is doing to mitigate these effects for consumers.

Follow Alexandra on Instagram @alexzatarainj

Follow Chase on Instagram @chase_chewning

Follow him on Twitter @chasechewning

Key Highlights

• Eight Sleep is in the business of improving sleep fitness. Sleep fitness is a healthy state of sleep. When you’re healthy in your sleep, you’re sleep fit! Just like physical fitness, sleep fitness a lifestyle and a journey that’s not linear. 

• Sleep & Mental Health: The quality of your sleep will show up primarily in your mental health. Sleep fitness affects emotional stability, cognition, reactivity, your ability to process stress, etc. Sleep allows your brain to process the day. If you want to be and feel better around your family, coworkers, and friends, you need good sleep. 

• Menstrual cycles greatly affect the quality of sleep for people with periods. Knowing how it affects you can help you prepare and make any adjustments necessary to get good sleep.

• Consistency is key. Alexandra’s #1 rule for sleep is going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time. She also recommends no TV in the bedroom as well as avoiding spending excess time and doing non-sleep activities in bed. 

• Cutting out or reducing caffeine and alcohol consumption can greatly improve sleep.

• Napping is not a substitute for sleep because it’s not the same quality of sleep. If you’re getting enough hours of sleep at night, you shouldn’t need to take a nap. If you find yourself needing naps throughout the day, you may need more sleep at night.

Powerful Quotes by Alexandra Zatarain

We don’t see sleep and good sleep as the end all, it’s a means to an end.

When you look at how sleep is usually talked about in media or just culture, you see that for the most part, sleep is spoken about in the context of illness… but there’s no language to talk about being healthy in your sleep. If we don’t have the language to define that then how can we aspire to it?

We all need to realize the impact that technology can have for the good and just making sure that the products we’re bringing into our lives to do that are offering some level of benefit.

Recommended Resources:

• Listen to EFR #408: New Technology to Improve Your Sleep Fitness with Matteo Franceschetti

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Why do the rich keep getting richer, the fit get fitter, and the sick get sicker? This is the question at the forefront of Joe Vennare’s mission in life.

Joe Vennare is the Co-Founder of Fitt Insider, a platform for founders, executives, and investors in fitness and wellness. Joe is an accomplished fitness professional, content strategist, and founder who leads the platform’s research and media efforts.

How do we integrate wearable sensors, diagnostics, and preventative healthcare measures into our everyday lives? Is it even necessary? The way the world is right now, only people with disposable income can really reap the benefits of these innovative technologies. But Joe believes we can change that… and he’s on the road to developing a solution.

In this discussion, Joe and Chase talk about how we can continue to push the boundaries and limitations of innovation in the fitness and wellness industries while keeping it accessible for the people who need it the most. They explore innovative opportunities and challenges in digital health and fitness technologies, Joe’s journey from being overweight to creating Fitt Insider, and the role of the metaverse in the future of health and fitness. Joe also shares his candid thoughts on the best ways to grow and thrive as a fitness professional, entrepreneur, or content creator.

Follow Joe @JoeVennare

Follow Chase on Instagram @chase_chewning

Follow him on Twitter @chasechewning

Key Highlights

• The education around health and fitness, along with the accessibility and cost of fitness/health trackers and platforms, are not where they need to be in order to help the people who need them the most.

• For serious fitness lovers and professionals, there’s great value in not only using, but stacking wearables and health technology platforms. But there are also downfalls to regularly incorporating them into your daily life. They’re not necessary for everyone or even for most people.

• For people new to data tracking, Joe emphasizes the importance of consistency in using your wearables and/or health platforms. Find what works for you and benefits your health and lifestyle.

• The way that health innovation is trending now is showing an increase in performance-oriented verticals in companies as well as companies who are trying to apply health technologies to healthcare, longevity, insurance, and more. This is resulting in companies building databases and operating systems around your health information, especially throughout the pandemic.

• It can be easy to get drawn into the hype of health and fitness trends… but what practices and innovations are here to stay? Joe sees immense value in Rogue Fitness, TRX, coaching, the Future app, social interaction and competition in workouts, and rewards programs like Cadoo, Paceline, and Vitality. There are also a few companies dedicated to giving fitness professionals and creators a platform to build digital subscription businesses. All of these tools are linked in the resources below.

Powerful Quotes by Joe Vennare

No wearable, at least to my knowledge right now, is going to tell you that the bag of chips and 2 liters of Coke and whatever else… that you had for dinner is going to put you in any type of place to reach any type of achievable health or fitness goal. 

In the worst-case scenario, folks take them off and don’t wear them… and don’t keep up with them… But for the type of person that it resonates with… there’s a huge benefit to having that reminder.

As convenient as Zoom calls are or digital fitness classes or at-home fitness equipment, it is not the same as going to a group fitness class, as competing with somebody side-by-side, and it just leaves you with a different energy.

Resources Mentioned:

• Polar Heart Rate Monitor

• WHOOP

• Oura RingApple Watch

• Eight Sleep

• Fitbit SmartwatchesAmazon’s Halo Band

• Future app

• Rogue Fitness

• TRX

• Vitality

• Cadoo

• Paceline 

• Apex Optimizers

• Talent Hack

• Playbook

• Moxie

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Mona Sharma is a holistic nutritionist, wellness educator, and functional food and beverage entrepreneur who has seen first-hand the healing power of food and mindfulness. 

One of the many things that’s so intriguing about Mona is that she grew up living on an ashram learning the power of Ayurveda. In her 20s, Mona left that lifestyle in the past. After developing a plethora of health issues and career burnout, which she details in this episode, Mona went back to the ashram, indulged herself in the rituals she grew up with, and completely transformed her life.

In this discussion, Mona and Chase dive deep into the power of food as medicine and how to identify and adopt the perfect rituals that will allow you to step into your greatest health and happiness FOR LIFE! Mona shares the philosophy behind her celebrity health coaching methods, highlighting lots of practical tips and gems of wisdom you can use in your health journey, too.

Follow Monao on Instagram @monasharma

Follow Chase on Instagram @chase_chewning

Follow him on Twitter @chasechewning

Key Highlights

• No matter how much weight you lose, you’re not going to feel any different in your body unless you do the work on your inner energy first and acknowledge how you want to feel. That’s where Mona starts in coaching others in holistic nutrition. What’s the core value that you want to feel every day? 

• When stored emotions are acknowledged and addressed, your body may create responses to them, like crying. If these emotions are still alive in the body and creating these responses, they’re causing inflammation, imbalances, and dis-ease in the body. The longer you go without working through these emotions, the more health issues you may experience. 

• Mona’s recommended resources for helping you make better diet and lifestyle choices include: Functional medicine doctors, full spectrum blood tests, stool tests, and working with your doctor to develop a personalized plan for introducing modalities tailored to you. Most importantly, give yourself grace.

• Rituals play an important role in health and wellness. Whether it be meditation, cooking, brushing your teeth, or dancing, identify the special powers behind your daily and weekly rituals. 

• Stress is often the instigator of imbalance and disease. Pre-pandemic, over 40 million people suffered from anxiety and anxiety-related disorders. What allows you to feel the most release? What brings you the most amount of peace?

• Moving yourself to the #1 position on your priority list can be extremely powerful and beneficial for your mind, body, and soul. It’s not a negative or selfish action. 

• Your kitchen, pantry, and fridge is your greatest healthcare policy.

Powerful Quotes by Mona Sharma

The sooner that you can understand that your unique constitution is incredible and you honor that, and the fact that your perfect diet should be as unique as your constitution, as your thumbprint, the sooner you’re going to be on the path towards healing.

The state of your life right now is a result of all the choices you’ve made and you’ve got to own it.

Do more of the things that make you feel good and less of the things that make you feel stressed and worried because that’s what will give you the most sense of relief. 

Balance, for me, is ever-changing.

When my position moves from the #1 position on my priority list, everything else falls apart.

Recommended Resources:

• The Institute for Functional Medicine and Into the Magic Shop by James Doty

• Learn about XICAMA

More about Mona:

Mona Sharma is a dynamic leader and entrepreneur in the health and wellness industry who works with high profile clients around the world. She also has a reoccurring role on the Facebook series Red Table Talk where they profile her work with Will Smith, and the entire Smith family’s healing journey.

Mona has seen first hand the power of food and mindfulness to heal, having grown up living on an Ashram. Her approach is rooted in this philosophy, and also inspires her research into the gut microbiome and its impact on our health and happiness.

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Michael Chernow believes that anyone can reinvent themselves. The New York-based restaurateur, TV host, and fitness personality came a long way, recalling a past defined by depression, unemployment, and crumbling relationships with his own family.

“I hated myself, truly,” Michael admits. Everything changed one day when he walked into a Muay Thai gym and was gently yet firmly led by his instructors to live a life of physical wellness (which included a daily bowl of oatmeal for breakfast) along with a heavy dose of self-respect.

Asked about fear, Michael distinguishes between living in fear and living with fear and why he believes that the key to growth is through giving up the former and learning to deal with the latter. As for his own fears, Michael says that he has never had a fear of failure, particularly once he had gotten on the road to turning his life around.

Michael dives deep into the power of habit, which he illustrates by talking about his meticulous early morning routine involving around 17 activities. Michael contends that each of these activities, when done, is a win, and so “by 6:00 in the morning, I’ve literally won 17 times,” ensuring that his “ability to make great decisions throughout the day are far greater.”

His strong belief in positive rituals—and oatmeal—was the spark that led to the launch of the lifestyle and wellness brand Kreatures of Habit and its plant-based, gluten-free, superfood-laced oatmeal The PrOATagonist.

Follow Michael @michaelchernow

Follow Chase @chase_chewning

Key Highlights

• How does Michael define the word “habit”?

• Michael explains the difference between living in fear and living with fear.

• What can we learn about dealing with pain and hardship from mountain climbers?

• Michael discusses why the habits we build for ourselves aren’t only for our good, but for the good of others, too.

• Why did Michael launch Kreatures of Habit?

Powerful Quotes by Michael

• I am my habits. We are our habits. I define habits as decisions—choices—we get to make that bring us either closer to, or further from, happiness and freedom. [...] Habits will make us or break us.

• What happened a minute ago does not have to impact or predict what’s going to happen right now.

• We have a choice to live in fear or with fear. There’s a massive difference there.

• If we can love the hard and the hurt, we actually become unstoppable.

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Rosie Acosta is a yoga, meditation, and mindfulness teacher, holistic health coach, and the host of the wellness podcast, Radically Loved Radio. She also has just published her first book, You Are Radically Loved: A Healing Journey to Self-Love.

After a tumultuous upbringing, being arrested at a young age, Rosie had to choose between the easy path of self-destruction and the challenging path to radical love, healing, and empowerment.

Bet you can guess which path she chose! Now, Rosie is committed to teaching and practicing guidance by radical love.

In this discussion, Rosie and Chase talk about what it means to radically love yourself and your life, her experience leaving Catholicism to adopt spiritual flexibility, and the inflictions of the mind, body, and spirit that she explores in her book. They also share their personal interpretations of radical love and radical wisdom.

Follow Rosie @rosieacosta

Follow Chase on Instagram @chase_chewning

Follow him on Twitter @chasechewning

Key Highlights

• As a teenager, Rosie realized she didn’t want to embody the phrase “ignorance is bliss” anymore. This lead to her to explore different avenues to connect with her higher Self.

• Meditation, yoga, and mindfulness have given Rosie an insatiable curiosity about why it feels so good to meditate, pray, and feel radically loved.

• Rosie says, “The more we simplify our life, the more fulfilling it can be.” Listen in to learn powerful insights from stoicism and minimalism that just might change the way you approach life.

• You Are Radically Loved is broken up into three parts, Mind, Body, and Spirit, because we need all three of those in order to feel unified and radically loved.

Powerful Quotes by Rosie Acosta

How can you bring more awareness to your life to bring you into this state of integration so that you can begin to feel and really feel empowered and embody your life?

[Radical love] is just this rooted, completely untouchable anchor point.

Change is constant, impermanence is inevitable, and the only thing that we can anchor into is radical love.

Episode resources:

• Huberman Lab Podcast on Psychedelics for Treating Mental Disorders

• Get Rosie's book You Are Radically Loved

• Rosie on EFR 172: Intention and Yoga

• Rosie on EFR 023: How to master mindfulness

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Ever since the pandemic set in, our habits have undergone a massive transformation – with no gyms, parks, or other public places open, how does one keep the health and fitness routine going? 

Join Chase and Maxx for another Q&A episode of Ever Forward Radio today as they help you find answers to your most persistent questions around weight loss, fitness, nutrition, and diet amid the pandemic. They talk about home workouts without (most) equipment for beginners and the experienced, finding the time for it amid a 60-hour workweek, diet vs. exercise, and supplement suggestions for gym-goers. They also touch on body dysmorphia and the tips to fight it and share why stressing your body over appearance could only cause you to gain more weight (if you're trying to lose it). 

One of the most valuable takeaways from the episode is Chase's FITT (Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type) rule that talks about the points to remember when starting your fitness career.

Follow Chase @chase_chewning

Follow Maxx @maxxchewning

Key Highlights 

• Nutrition and physical training go hand in hand. Even minimal resistance training can cause injury, like atrophying of muscle mass. The quality of your life and exercise depends on the nutrients you consume.

• Body dysmorphia could cause you to overdo your training and sometimes injure yourself. It is essential that you understand your body and respect it and listen to what it says to you.

• A heightened stress state could create new fat cells in your body. It could mess up your immune health and cause unnecessary weight gain.

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• Reishi is called the queen of all mushrooms because of its extraordinary benefits to the immune system. Reishi is an immuno-modulator – whether your immunity levels are high or low, it would help you bring them down to your level of homeostasis.

Quotes

“If you can work on developing a better relationship with how you're moving, how you're training, what you're eating, why, when and where, start with that you're going to set yourself up for success.” 

“When you're using Lion's Mane, it is stimulating your brain more, it's allowing new neural pathways to fire and then stay firing. The phrase is, neurons that fire together wire together. So it actually helps you lay down new tasks and things you're learning, memories and thoughts in a way that's not just right then and there, but it stays.”

“It (finding time to workout despite a 60-hour workweek) just comes down to prioritization (...).  (You have to ask yourself) where are you spending your time?”

Episode resources:

• CLICK HERE to join the 2022 Ever Forward Mentorship

• Save 15% on any CBD or functional mushroom product from Cured Nutrition with code EVERFORWARD

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Life is fragile and it’s taken away from people all the time. This truth is what keeps functional medicine practitioner Dr. Will Cole in a more expansive state of gratitude and compassion every single day. He believes that finding balance and rooting ourselves in the present moment is what will help us thrive in life.

“Reconnecting with your intuition and the planet is the most progressive thing you can do... Making your life the lab, that’s really the art of wellness.”

In this discussion, Will and Chase break down the meaning behind ‘the art of being well’ and the role of intuition in health and wellness. They talk about the relationship between alcohol and sleep, key contributors to modern health and wellness, and how to find balance between self-education and consulting medical professionals. Plus, Will gives insight into how he helps people tap into their intuition and the sacred masterpieces we all are.

Follow Dr. Will @drwillcole

Follow Chase on Instagram @chase_chewning

Follow him on Twitter @chasechewning

Key Highlights

• Look at the habits or issues your life that you’re holding onto and not willing to let go of, like alcohol, technology, or lack of quality sleep. When you move through these issues, you’ll be able to move past your plateau and experience some level of transformation in your health and wellness.

• Having a mindful, introspective reckoning with what’s serving you and what’s sabotaging you is more impactful than just shaming yourself into cutting out alcohol or deleting social media for a week.

• ‘Biohacking’, or tracking your health and fitness metrics, can give you just enough information to allow you to make more educated and empowered decisions regarding your health. If you’re interested in using a wearable or online health tracker, use it as an awareness tool, not a tool that controls your life. If it’s a source of stress or shame for you or causing disordered eating, take a break from using it and only use it for a small period of time. Your mental and emotional health is more important than metrics.

• Sometimes, your own research and education isn’t enough. If you’re trying all the things and you’re seemingly stuck in your health journey, consult a medical professional for a new perspective.

• Will believes that wellness is a sacred art and you are the masterpiece. Wellness is more intuitive than scientific.

Powerful Quotes by Dr. Will Cole

Avoiding things that make you feel like crap isn’t restrictive, it’s self-respect.

The heart of what I do in functional medicine… is learning the art. That’s part of the reason why I call my podcast “The Art of Being Well”, it’s because it’s this duality of science and art of what I do in functional medicine. The art of it is applying the science in a way that works for them sustainably and learning the rhythm and can’t always be quantified in a lab.

Making your life the lab, that’s really the art of wellness.

Cultivating acts of stillness in our very noisy world is paramount.

Episode resources:

• WHOOP

• Oura Ring

• Wave Neuro

• Listen to Will’s podcast, The Art of Being Well

Ever Forward Radio is brought to you by Sugarbreak

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Happy Valentine's Day! Today, Chase and his wife May share some surprising scientific information about what love does to us physiologically beyond just the warm fuzzy feelings we get. Love is linked to increased life-span, decreased chronic illness and disease, lower stress, improved quality of life and so much more. But... that does not only mean when we are in love with someone else. Self-love is just as important!

Follow May @mayyazdi

Follow Chase @chase_chewning

Episode resources:

• Save big on CBD during Cured Nutrition's buy one, get one sale

• Get AG1 and free one year supply of vitamin D plus 5 travel packs

• Listen to our 5 Love Languages podcast

• Get The Five Love Languages

• Love promotes health article 

Niyc Pidgeon is a life coach and the author of the best-selling book, Now Is Your Chance, which talks about living a happy life by implementing positive psychology principles into your life.

Starting her career as a personal trainer, helping people with their health and fitness goals, Niyc was often approached by her clients as a counsellor for their emotional and mental issues. Those interactions made her realize the intangible link – between the mind and the body, making her want to explore it in depth. Eventually, Niyc studied positive psychology and made it her mission to change the lives of humans using its principles.

In today’s discussion, Niyc and Chase unwind the core principles of positive psychology and how it drives noticeable change in the lives of humans. Niyc explains why positive psychology isn’t only about happy things but instead involves finding the light in situations, however bad they may be. As research states, it’s about finding ‘three positive emotions for every negative emotion’ (the ratio may vary depending on your situation and state, but the principle stays intact). It’s about breaking away from rumination and focussing on the ‘now’.

You’ll learn to differentiate a fixed mindset from a growth mindset and discover the huge importance of cultivating a growth mindset to stay positive. Moreover, you’ll learn the changes that can be brought into your mindset by being non-judgmental, curious, and operating at your edge: all foundations to cultivating positive psychology.

Remember, your emotions are likely contagious; you can always choose to spread a smile.

Follow Niyc @niycpidge

Follow Chase @chase_chewning

Key Highlights

• Positive psychology or building a positive mindset doesn’t involve only the big joys or milestones. Anything small or significant that helps you change your mindset for the better is a step to building a positive mindset.

• Rumination is self-destructive. Worrying about the future is also self-destructive. Positive psychology is about making conscious efforts to break out of the cycle and focussing on the ‘now’.

• Get real, realize what parts of your situations are under your control and what is not. Choose to take a small positive step in the right direction for the thing that you can control – this will help you reclaim your power and energy back, and you’ll be able to navigate life more productively.

• A fixed mindset is detrimental to your happiness and growth as it tends to categorize everything into either success or failure. The growth mindset teaches the importance of embracing the journey and assessing how you’re doing, which is the best way to evaluate if you’re performing your best.

• Emotional contagion is the idea that you can spread good vibes through simple gestures – even just by smiling.

Quotes from Niyc

“What I now teach is how you can have success and have really strong personal systems and personal boundaries to actually provide a scaffolding inside of yourself, inside of your day, so that you can feel awesome, whilst also being able to propel yourself forwards and get the money, success, stages, whatever it is that you want.”

“Get real, what is the fear? What's the worst thing that can happen? [...] What part of this is in your control and what is not in your control? Let go of the part that's not in your control and then choose to take a small positive step in the right direction for the thing that you can control, you literally reclaim all of your power and energy back, and you can start to navigate that in a much more productive way.”

“What we know is that positive emotions open up your thinking. So they broaden and build, they help you build relationships more quickly. They help you solve problems more easily. They help you reach your goals faster, as well, as obviously, it's helping you feel better."

Episode resources

• Get Niyc's book Now Is Your Chance

• Get the book When the Body Says No

• Get the book The Slight Edge

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What is REM sleep, why it is important, how much you need, and how to increase it. In today's solo episode Chase breaks down everything you need to know about this crucial component to our sleep cycle.

Follow Chase on Instagram for more daily wellness tips @chase_chewning

Key Highlights

• The sleep stages

• Why is REM sleep important?

• How much REM sleep do you need?

• Effects of lack of REM sleep

• How to get more REM sleep

Episode resources:

• Save 15% on Resist from Sugarbreak with code CHASE

• Get your WHOOP 4.0 for free and save $30 on your new membership

• WHOOP article

Original WHOOP article is below:

REM sleep, which means “rapid eye movement sleep,” is one of the 4 stages of sleep (along with light, deep and wake) that your body’s sleep cycles consist of. It is known as the “mentally restorative” stage of sleep when the brain converts short-term memories into long-term ones. Your brain is very active during REM sleep and it is when the most vivid dreams occur.

THE SLEEP STAGES

Something many people don’t realize is that REM sleep and deep sleep (also referred to as slow wave sleep) are very different stages of sleep. Deep sleep is the “physically restorative” stage when muscles repair themselves and cells regenerate. It follows light sleep and precedes REM sleep in a normal sleep cycle, and unlike REM when your heart and respiratory rate speed up, during deep sleep they both slow down.

WHY IS REM SLEEP IMPORTANT?

REM sleep is the time when new learnings from the day are committed to long-term memory. Beyond the obvious value this has for anyone, it’s significant to athletes from the perspective of technical skills worked on or practiced that day–they are retained during REM sleep, so failing to get the proper amount at night can prevent you from seeing the benefits of your practice that day.

More generally speaking, there’s been research to suggest that when people are deprived of REM sleep they have trouble recollecting things they are taught before falling asleep.

The following physiological changes occur during the REM stage of sleep:

• Eyes move rapidly back and forth behind closed eyelids

• Heart rate and blood pressure rise to levels nearly as high as when you’re awake

• Respiratory rate

• Brain consumes more oxygen and its

• Face and limbs may twitch

Below is a chart representing brain waves measured by an EEG when a person is awake, in REM sleep, and in non-REM sleep:

BRAIN WAVES FROM AN EEG ARE SIMILAR WHEN A PERSON IS AWAKE AND IN REM SLEEP.

Your brain is almost as active in rapid eye movement sleep as when it’s awake, which is why most dreaming happens during this time. As a precautionary measure, part of the brain also sends signals to immobilize your arms and legs in order to prevent you from acting out your dreams (REM sleep behavior disorder). For these reasons, REM sleep is sometimes called paradoxical sleep.

HOW MUCH REM SLEEP DO YOU NEED?

You first enter REM sleep each usually within 90 minutes of falling asleep, and this period of REM only lasts about 10 minutes. On average you’ll go through 3-5 REM cycles per night, with each episode getting longer as the night progresses. The final one may last roughly an hour.

For healthy adults, spending 20-25% of your time asleep in the REM stage is a good goal. If you get 7-8 hours of sleep, around 90 minutes of that should be REM.

The normal amount of REM sleep also declines with age, beginning with infancy (when it may be greater than 50% of total sleep time) and extending all the way through adulthood.

Learn More:

How Much REM Sleep Should You Get a Night?

How Much Time Should You Spend in Each Stage of Sleep?

EFFECTS OF LACK OF REM SLEEP

As mentioned above, not getting enough REM sleep can negatively impact your brain’s ability to learn and create new memories.

Additionally, because the majority of your REM sleep tends to come towards the end of your night in bed (and after deep sleep, which your brain and body prioritize when you need to catch up on sleep), a lack of REM is often a sign of sleep deprivation. Chronic sleep deprivation has been linked to greater risk of obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, dementia, depression, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

There has also been research to show that insufficient REM sleep may cause migraines, and some medical conditions (sleep apnea for example) can have adverse effects on it.

HOW TO GET MORE REM SLEEP

Overall, whatever you can do to improve your sleep habits and behaviors will also help you get more REM sleep. This begins with simply making an effort to spend more time in bed. Here are 45 tips to help you sleep better.

There are also two other things in particular that stand out with how to increase REM sleep. The first is a concept we refer to as sleep consistency–going to bed and waking up at the same time each day (or a sleep schedule as close to that as possible). Your body functions more efficiently when it is on a regular schedule, and this applies to sleep as well. We ran an analysis of sleep data from 25,000 WHOOP members, and the results showed a significant rise in the nightly amount of REM sleep as the percentage of sleep consistency over a 4-day span increased:

BETTER SLEEP CONSISTENCY ALLOWS FOR MORE REM SLEEP.

The second big thing is to stay away from alcohol before bed. When your body is forced to process alcohol during sleep, it has difficulty getting past light sleep and into the deeper stages.

Learn More: Tips to Increase REM Sleep

WHOOP TRACKS HOW MUCH REM SLEEP YOU’RE GETTING (get yours HERE!)

With WHOOP, you can monitor your night’s sleep in detail and learn exactly how much time you spend in each stage of sleep. The app also features a Sleep Coach that uses your own circadian rhythm to recommend daily bed and wake times to optimize the quality of your sleep.

WHOOP will let you know how much REM sleep you’re getting and help give you a better understanding of what you can do to get more of it.

THE WHOOP APP DISPLAYS HOW MUCH TIME YOU SPEND IN REM SLEEP EACH NIGHT.

Ryan Hartman is the President and CEO of World View, whose mission is to share a better vision of our planet through capturing stratospheric images of Earth, helping solve our planet's biggest problems, and even launching humans from the world's wonders to the edge of space.

They exist to inspire, create, and explore new perspectives while rediscovering Earth to create a radically improved future. What does that mean? It means shifting our behaviors, changing how we treat our planet, and forming a community that advocates for Earth.

In this discussion, Ryan and Chase explore the intersection of technology and purpose by diving deep into the shocking reality of space travel and tourism in 2022 and beyond. Ryan explains to us how World View space tourism works, what inspired him to create these innovative travel experiences, and how World View is prioritizing sustainability and financial accessibility.

Follow World View @worldviewspace

Follow Chase  @chase_chewning

Follow him on Twitter @chasechewning

Key Highlights

• World View created a journey consisting of 5 days of immersive experiences, in addition to space flight, for people to explore Earth and develop a newfound respect and enlightened view of our planet.

• Ryan believes that the immersive experience of stratospheric ballooning will inspire others to shift their current perspectives of the world and change the way they treat planet Earth.

• Beyond the adventurous thrill of space flight, Ryan believes there will be people who are called to participate in World View experiences.

• Although a ticket for the space tourism experience comes at a price of $50,000, Ryan and World View are continuously working to make their flights more accessible for people all around the globe. They even offer financing for flights, which is essentially unheard of!

• Ryan talks about the sustainability of World View’s space travel program, from recycling and repurposing their stratospheric balloons to offsetting their carbon footprint. They’ve committed to a 100-year plan of managing their carbon footprint, waste, and the lifespan of the materials they use.

Powerful Quotes by Ryan Hartman

What is a new perspective? It embodies inspiring people, it embodies exploring, it embodies finding something that is unique so that we can contribute to a radically improved future.

One day, you can be standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon just seeing how massive it is. And the next day, ascending to the very edge of space, to the very edge of Earth’s atmosphere and beyond, and see how small it is. That creates an opportunity to be able to feel something different, unique, and have an emotional response to that.

Perspective shift, I believe, happens when you create an environment where there’s familiarity, something you recognize, coupled with something completely new that you don’t yet completely understand.

We’re never done thinking about how might we be able to run our business… and what decisions do we need to make along the way to find a way to have a positive impact.

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