The Woman Who Helps Athletes Sleep: Stop Having Showers Just Before Bed! New Science! ‘Nappucino’ Phenomenon You Need To Know!

Cheri Mah (0:00)

I was 86% correct on accurately predicting when an NBA team will be at highest risk of losing strictly based on its sleep.

Steven Bartlett (0:07)

Oh gosh.

Cheri Mah (0:08)

Yes. And just 15 or 30 minutes can make a difference. So let's dive into just some very practical strategies to get the best sleep possible.

SPEAKER_3 (0:17)

Dr. Cheri Mah is a renowned sleep doctor and performance expert whose sleep optimization research has enhanced the careers of CEOs, as well as athletes in the NFL, MLB and Formula One, and has provided life-changing expertise to companies like Nike, Under Armour and Google.

Cheri Mah (0:31)

For my elite athletes that I work with, sufficient sleep gets a game changer. For example, we saw a 12% faster reaction time, a 9% improvement in free throws, and a 4% increase in faster sprint time. And when you experience what it feels like to be well rested, you never want to go back to getting insufficient sleep. And it doesn't have to be these big jumps.

Steven Bartlett (0:52)

I'd love to dig into that.

Cheri Mah (0:53)

OK.

Steven Bartlett (0:53)

So I'd have a shower, then I'd get straight into bed after. Is that good or bad?

Cheri Mah (0:57)

Tweak the timing of your shower and your hot bath to just an hour or two before bed. It's hard to grasp how much of a difference this can make in your life.

Steven Bartlett (1:05)

What about sex? Does it have an impact on your sleep?

Cheri Mah (1:08)

Oh, OK. So...

Steven Bartlett (1:10)

Is there anything that I can eat before bed that won't disrupt my sleep but will get rid of the hunger?

Cheri Mah (1:13)

There's pre-sleep meal. For example, cereal and milk.

Steven Bartlett (1:17)

Cereal?

Cheri Mah (1:17)

And the reason why is because...

Steven Bartlett (1:19)

And then I read this fascinating word, Cappuccino. Yes.

Cheri Mah (1:23)

This is a useful tool if you're a working professional and you need a little boost in alertness and performance. What you do is...

Steven Bartlett (1:34)

Dr. Mah, what is it you do, and why is it so important in your mind that you do it?

Cheri Mah (1:43)

Great question. So I'm a sleep physician, but I spend a lot of my time and career trying to educate and advocate for people to prioritize sleep, right? This fascinating process that each of us does every single night, and arguably is about a third of our lives. But many individuals don't do this very well, or they, you know, sacrifice it and overlook this area. I very much believe if you don't sleep your best, you will not be your best. Or counter to that is if your sleep is best, you will be at your best. And what that means, if I unpack that a little bit more, is we often are sacrificing our sleep. We're under-slept. We often don't have good quality sleep. We're very reactive to our sleep at nighttime. And it's the last thing that we think of at the end of the day when we wrap everything up. And that's arguably not going to put ourselves up to be the best we can be in the following day, right? And for my elite athletes that I work with, when you actually get sufficient sleep, you have practices that you plan into your day, and you actually are more proactive with that, it can be a game changer. And for them, when it comes to performance on the field, that can be the difference of a 9% improvement in free throw shots. It can mean reacting 12% faster. And so until you experience that, it sometimes is hard to grasp how much of a difference this can make in your life. But it is one of the foundations that will impact everything about how you function, your mood, how you feel, and ultimately perform the following day. If I could offer you, or yes, you specifically, Steven, if I could offer you something that's free and healthy and safe, that's going to help you think more clearly, make better decisions, be in a better mood, be more productive and efficient. Would you want it?

Steven Bartlett (3:39)

Of course, how much?

Cheri Mah (3:41)

Exactly. And so it's really a decision of whether you want to invest your time to be able to be more proactive with this particular area of your life, to get the benefits that come down the road with it.

Steven Bartlett (3:54)

Who do you work with? Give me a broad spectrum of the individuals or organizations that you've worked with on sleep, and why have they come to you?