*s2/e06 The Science of Sleep & Athletic Performance with Dr. Amy Bender, MS, PhD (@sleep4sport)

Do you get enough sleep? Do struggle with sleep quality or quantity? Are you unconvinced by regular, non-scientist people telling you how important getting enough sleep is for your overall health and your training/running performance? Real-life sleep scientist Dr. Amy Bender (@sleep4sport) joins the show to teach us all about sleep, specifically in the context of athletic performance!

• The different stages of sleep
• How much sleep do you need as a runner?
• Sleep quantity: do naps count?
• "Banking" sleep
• Sleep quality
• Early birds vs Night Owls & training schedule optimization
• Sleep disorders versus a "normal bad night of sleep"
• Treatment for insomnia
• Optimizing our nighttime routine for good sleep quality
• Meditation or mindfulness for sleep
• And more!

Dr. Amy Bender is the Director Clinical Sleep Science at Cerebra, a digital health company focused on improving access to advanced digital sleep analysis and diagnostic sleep technology. An award-winning sleep scientist, Amy Bender is bursting with evidence-based insights that will play an integral role in creating your new sleep strategy. After spending over 15 years studying sleep through many avenues including work as a sleep technician, clinical research, written publications, interviews for stories in Oprah Magazine and public speaking appearances including her Ted Med talk, Dr. Bender has an intimate relationship with the science. Her ability to translate science to the field is evident through her successful work with NHL, Canadian national team athletes, and Olympic athletes.