The full list with my responses:

1. Yes: Be consistent when you go to bed and when you wake up. I strongly agree with this point, and think that a regular sleep schedule can be one of the more important training tools that an athlete has available to them after their diet. It is also important to accurately determine how much sleep that you need and not to sleep too often.
2. Yes/No: Don’t drink coffee or alcohol or use some non-drowsy medications before bed. This can be good advice, especially in regards to caffeine or other drugs that keep you from being drowsy. Alcohol can affect different people in different ways, though. Generally speaking, you may not have much trouble falling asleep with a beer in you, but you will probably be a little more restless than you would have been without the booze.
3. No: Eat dinner several hours before bedtime. I completely disagree with this advice. You should never go to bed hungry. Some people may not sleep well if there is anything in their stomach, but active people need the fuel and if you can’t sleep because your stomach is growling at you then you are wasting your time laying in bed. Having a healthy snack before going to sleep could help you to sleep better, and will certainly leave you in better shape for a morning workout than if you went to bed hungry.
4. No: Don’t nap. This depends upon the person and when the nap takes place. Napping in the middle of the day for a short period of time could lead to a more productive day and better sleep in the evening. Taking a 2 hour nap right before dinner probably would lead to being restless at night, however. The people who manage to successfully adopt a polyphasic sleep schedule tend to sleep better and require less sleep than those of us that hibernate for 7 or 8 hours every night, but it is hard to keep a schedule that nobody else follows.
5. No: Don’t run or exercise close to bedtime. This is a myth, pure and simple. Exercising before bed may cause some trouble sleeping for some people, but in most cases it will not affect you or will improve the quality of your sleep. If the choice is between exercising late at night before sleeping or not exercising at all, then you are better off getting at least an easy workout in. Just be sure to have something to eat between the workout and going to bed, and that you do not completely engorge yourself or down something that is full of caffeine.
6. Yes/No: If you can’t sleep, get up and read or watch TV. This is good advice, but I recommend against watching television before going to sleep or when you can not sleep. It can lead to eye strain and restless sleep, not to mention that you may fall asleep at an awkward angle or affect the sleep of others in your household with excessive noise. Looking at a magazine or a book or changing your sleeping location is more likely to help you fall asleep.
7. Yes: Try not to think about stressful events or duties. Good advice that I can not argue with.

The researchers found that children who got less sleep were more likely to be overweight and have higher body mass index measures than those who got more sleep, even when factors such as race, ethnicity and parents’ income and educational level were considered. The study noted that sleep experts recommend that children ages 5 to 12 sleep for 10 to 11 hours a night and adolescents sleep for 8 to 9 hours. But the researchers said children in the study at age 7 on average got less than 10 hours of sleep on weekdays and at age 14 got 8.5 hours of sleep on weekdays.

The study did not try to determine why children who sleep less weigh more, but some theories that they put forth were because of hormone imbalances, additional time in the day to eat, or a lack of energy during exercise or play time.

Personally, I think that a regular sleeping schedule is the most important way to maintain good health no matter what your age, followed by finding and getting the amount of sleep that your body needs. What I do not understand is why elementary schools begin later than high schools, when the younger children tend to go to bed earlier and can wake up easier in the morning than teenagers who stay up later and need a full night’s sleep to support the growth of their bodies.

This is the first time that I have seen anybody make the claim that less sleep could lead to weight gain compared to peers who get enough sleep, but the premise certainly seems plausible. When I have children, my goal would be to have them get enough sleep to support their growing bodies and minds, and this is just one more reason why it is so important.

Thanks to Raising 4 Boys for the heads up.

Sleeping too little means that your body does not have an opportunity to recharge itself and get itself ready for the coming day. People who sleep too little tend to live very busy lives or have very active night lives combined with an early morning schedule. They will drag for the better part of the morning and may require a cup or three of coffee to even approach being sociable in the morning or to get their minds working on anything more complicated than brushing their teeth. These sort of people are short changing their health, as they will tend to get more stressed out and will have a more difficult time fighting off colds.

Sleeping only as much as your body needs is obviously the most healthy and time efficient method. The amount of sleep one person needs could be quite different than for another person. My fiance usually needs around 8 hours of sleep, while I can get by on 7 hours of sleep. In fact, I find it difficult to sleep for more than 7 hours to 7 and a half hours. The trick is finding out what works best for you and then sticking with it. Adopting a regular sleep schedule can make it much easier to get the right amount of sleep every night.

Sometimes, how much sleep you need can change based on how old you are, how active your lifestyle is, or even how active you were during a particular week or if you are trying to fight off an infection of one sort or another. Your body will tell you when it needs more sleep, and it will be easier to heed those warnings and recognize them if you get the right amount of sleep on a regular basis. If you sleep too much or too little, then your body’s warnings can more easily go unrecognized.

How much sleep do you normally need to get every night? How much sleep do you actually get?

For active people, though, you do want something in your stomach when you go to sleep. Not a full course meal, obviously; there’s no need for that. But a light snack such as a piece of bread or an apple an hour or 30 minutes before going to sleep can lead to better sleep and can make it easier to get up in the morning. If I do not eat before going to bed, I tend to wake up with stomach cramps in the middle of the night. If I try to run in the morning without eating first, I won’t get a mile before I will be completely exhausted.

Your mileage may vary with this tip. Everybody’s body is different, and your body may not like eating right before you go to sleep. There is only one way to find out, though, and it is a good thing to know.

I have found that I sleep best if I look at a magazine or read a book for 15 minutes to an hour before going to sleep. I will lay in bed and read until I begin to feel my eyes drooping, whereupon I shut off the light and settle in. If I watch a movie right before going to bed, then my head is usually still full of loud noises and bright lights and I have trouble both falling asleep and staying asleep.

• You will fall asleep easier
• You will wake up easier
• Your sleep will be more restful
• Your athletic performance will be more consistent
• Your body will know when it is going to have time to recover from exercise
• When you wake up you will be more alert in a shorter span of time
• You will not be as tired during the day

Try determining how much sleep that you actually need every night, and spend a few weeks going to bed and waking up at the same time, even on the weekends. Sleeping late can throw off your body rythms just as much as going to bed late.

The biggest reason that I was surprised that this seems to be a widely held myth (at least according to the New York Times) was because I always sleep much better after a romp, and that is definately a form of exercise.