What you should know about the sleepmaxxing to get more from your ZZZs

Sleepmaxxing emerged as a prolific trend in 2024, especially among Gen-Zers, as it offers the promise of achieving better sleep, which can lead to better health and performance.

As people become more aware of the crucial role sleep plays in physical and mental health and prioritise self-care, many are actively searching for ways to optimise their sleep performance, particularly amid a generational and cultural shift that values efficiency and productivity.

Many people are now jumping onto social media to learn about sleepmaxxing, from sleep-tracking wearables and sleep aid devices to white noise apps and sleep support supplements.

READ MORE | Wake Up Call: How a Lack of Sleep Undermines your Health and Productivity

Help or hype?

While there is no question that getting sufficient quality sleep each night is essential to your health, recovery and mental and physical performance, the trend is also creating unhealthy fixations on sleep optimisation while some are using the trend to push commercial interests.

While some aspects of the sleepmaxxing trend can support healthy shuteye, some of the advice and products featured in some of the most popular videos are raising concerns, particularly those that promote extreme or exaggerated behaviours and ‘sleep hacks’. 

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Understanding sleep

During sleep, we drop off into a state of suspended sensory and motor activity characterised by total or partial unconsciousness.

Nearly all voluntary muscles and bodily functions stop overnight as our mind and body cycles through various sleep stages.

There are two main types of sleep:

1. Non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep
2. Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep

Sleep cycles

The first three sleep stages happen during NREM sleep and the fourth stage occurs in the deeper REM sleep stage.

1. Relatively light sleep that lasts around 5-10 minutes at the start of a sleep cycle.
2. Lasts for approximately 20 minutes. The brain begins to produce bursts of rapid, rhythmic brainwave activity known as sleep spindles. Your body temperature and heart rate also begin to decrease.
3. Deep, slow brainwaves, known as delta waves begin to emerge, which leads to a deep sleep state that lasts for approximately 30 minutes.
4. You enter REM sleep. Your respiratory rate and brain activity increase.

Your sleep cycle does not always progress through these stages in sequence and often fluctuates through the various levels several times throughout the night.

READ MORE | Unpacking the bidirectional relationship between sleep and stress

 Defining quality sleep

Quality sleep is more than just the quantity of hours you spend in bed. It’s about the composition, consistency and continuity of your sleep, as well as how refreshed you feel when you wake up.

• Continuity: Getting sufficient sleep is essential. The recommended amount varies by age, but most adults need between 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.
• Composition: You need to cycle through the various sleep stages, with sufficient time in each phase for full physical and mental restoration.
• Consistency: Maintaining a regular sleep schedule helps regulate your body’s internal clock.

Why we need quality sleep

Our body works to restore and repair tissues and other bodily systems while we sleep. As the body releases various hormones during the night, sleep supports muscle and connective tissue repair, drives muscle growth and strength development, and restores the immune and nervous systems, including the brain.

Some research-backed health benefits associated with sufficient quality sleep include:

• Better immune system function¹
• Improved physical performance²
• Better mental health and function³
• Lowered risk of lifestyle disease, including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, obesity and type-2 diabetes⁴
• Improves stress resilience⁵

READ MORE | Why beating insomnia for better sleep could unlock holistic health

Maximise your sleep

When it comes to the sleepmaxxing trend, do not focus on the gimmicks, extreme advice or outlandish techniques.

The basic formula for healthy, restorative sleep hasn’t changed since the dawn of the sleepmaxxing trend.

Get the basics right and you’re more likely to drop off to sleep quickly and get sufficient deep sleep to wake up feeling refreshed and rejuvenated:

• Create a conducive sleep environment.
• Keep your room dark, quiet, and cool.
• Support this environment with a sound routine, going to sleep at the same time every night.
• Implement sound sleep hygiene practices like avoiding screens, caffeine and alcohol before bed..
• Wind down before turning off the lights with some reading, meditation or breathing exercises.

You can also consider sleep support supplements, like Biogen Sure Sleep. Quality, well-formulated products contain natural botanical ingredients such as valerian extract, passion flower powder and hops extract that may improve sleep quality, along with vitamins and minerals like magnesium and zinc, which increase GABA production – a neurotransmitter responsible for calming your central nervous system, relaxing you and preparing you for sleep.

References:

1. Besedovsky L, Lange T, Born J. Sleep and immune function. Pflugers Arch. 2012 Jan;463(1):121-37. doi: 10.1007/s00424-011-1044-0. Epub 2011 Nov 10. PMID: 22071480; PMCID: PMC3256323.
2. Charest J, Grandner MA. Sleep and Athletic Performance: Impacts on Physical Performance, Mental Performance, Injury Risk and Recovery, and Mental Health. Sleep Med Clin. 2020 Mar;15(1):41-57. doi: 10.1016/j.jsmc.2019.11.005. PMID: 32005349; PMCID: PMC9960533.
3. Scott AJ, Webb TL, Martyn-St James M, Rowse G, Weich S. Improving sleep quality leads to better mental health: A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Sleep Med Rev. 2021 Dec;60:101556. doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2021.101556. Epub 2021 Sep 23. PMID: 34607184; PMCID: PMC8651630.
4. Worley SL. The Extraordinary Importance of Sleep: The Detrimental Effects of Inadequate Sleep on Health and Public Safety Drive an Explosion of Sleep Research. P T. 2018 Dec;43(12):758-763. PMID: 30559589; PMCID: PMC6281147.
5. O’Byrne NA, Yuen F, Butt WZ, Liu PY. Sleep and Circadian Regulation of Cortisol: A Short Review. Curr Opin Endocr Metab Res. 2021 Jun;18:178-186. doi: 10.1016/j.coemr.2021.03.011. Epub 2021 May 5. PMID: 35128146; PMCID: PMC8813037.