Sleep Tips For Multi-Day Hikers

In this video we explore some simple tips and strategies to help a hiker relieve sore muscles and get a better sleep on an overnight or multi-day hike.

Sleep can make or break a multi-day adventure. Deep sleep plays a major role in your body and minds ability to recover day to day. But unfortunately, there are so many factors which can disrupt sleep on the trail (such as sore muscles, sleep systems, environment concerns etc).
  
And while we cannot control many of these factors, there are certain tings we can do to help calm our body and mind down, and get a better sleep.
  
And this is what we explore in this video.
   

How To Improve Sleep On Multi-Day Hikes

Inside this video we cover:
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• One of the most important concepts of choosing sleep systems (which so many hikers forget about)
• How to use stretching and self-massage on multi-day hikes (plus a great exercises to help hikers who get sore lower backs on the trail)
• A great piece of gear which can help relieve sore muscles and (potentially) speed up recovery 
• A few simple sleep aids which you can bring in your pack 
• Why taking some time to mentally decompress at the end of a day's hiking can make a major difference to your sleep

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Learn about online personal training for hikers here: https://www.summitstrength.com.au/online.html

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​Exercises Mentioned In The Video: 

The Cat-Cow Stretch

Glute Release With Ball 
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​Frog Stretch

​Video Transcript:

[0:00] All right, hello, hello, ladies and gentlemen, and in today's video, we are talking through a number of tips that you can use to help your sleep

[0:08] on overnight and multi-day hikes. Now, this is a really, really, really common issue that so many people face, and I know a lot of hikers are kind of hesitant and nervous about getting out on multi-dayers purely for their sleep. So we're going to be diving into this and just talk through a range of tips and strategies which you can put into action to help you feel a bit more comfortable. And rest a bit deeper on the trail. Now, this particular video was coming from a question I did get sent through just the other day. And the question was, look, I wonder if you have any tips to help me get a good night's sleep after a big day out. I realized that my legs get really twitchy, they're not painful, but they get restless and my lower back does get tight and it is hard to settle down and sleep well.

[0:50] I seize up a little bit and I'm quite stiff the next day though it loosens up with movement. At home, I have a few things that I do, but I'm wondering what I can do on a multi-day hike. I remember this has been a problem in the past, and I just end up being exhausted over several days of walking with weight and not really sleeping well.

[1:07] I was just asking for a few ideas. So with that being said, we've got a range of different things we can talk through, and I'm going to talk you through some ideas around sleep systems, stretching and self-massage, some supplements you can use, some particular garments and different sleep aids, and a range of different things that you can potentially explore to help sleep a little bit better. Now, first and foremost, let's talk about sleep systems. Now, I'm not a massive fan of talking about gear. I'm not a great source of information when it comes to gear. But I will sort of say is when it comes down to your sleep systems, it can take a bit of trial and error to find what is right for you. Because as much as we can go online and learn about the best type of systems for this, the best sleeping pad, the best pillow, the best whatever may be, everyone is going to be a little bit different. So I strongly recommend if whatever you're using at the moment doesn't feel entirely comfortable, maybe experiment and do a bit of trial and error to find something else.

[2:01] One thing to be really, really clear on on this front is sometimes people do go down the route of just thinking, I want to be lighter. I want to be lighter. I want to be lighter. You know what? My legs get sore at the end of the day. I get a bit tight. So what I'm going to try and do is just make sure my pack weight is as light as possible. And in that situation, sometimes it can end up us just compromising our sleep systems just a little bit. But to be clear, sometimes lightweight is not always better when it comes down to your sleep stuff. Sometimes getting something a bit heavier, something a bit sturdier, something that's going to be a bit more comfortable for you, will be way, way, way better investment. Because it may end up weighing a little bit heavier, but the amount of energy you're going to save from getting a good night's sleep is a big deal. So have a bit of experiment with that.

[2:46] On top of that, one thing you really want to look at is just practicing and exposing the body to this type of thing. Because like with anything, whether it's the perfect sleep system or the worst sleep system in the world, if you're just using it every once in a while, every few months or whatever may be, the body's just not going to be used to it. And the body is probably going to get a little bit sore. And we don't want that. So we want to expose the body to whatever you're using semi-regularly, just so it isn't a massive surprise and it can feel comfortable. So in the lead up for whatever multi-day thing, doing some test hikes, doing some gear shakedowns, always good. If you can't really do a huge amount of that, or maybe it's restricted, whatever it may be, even just doing a bit of backyard or living room camping where you literally get your sleep systems out, sleep in them a few times in your living room. It can go a long way just introducing that to the body, figuring out things and seeing how you go. So that's all I'm going to really say on the gear front. As I said, I'm not a massive fan about talking about gear. There's a lot better people in the world and on the internet talking about this stuff, but that's some things you can look at.

[3:45] Next up, let's talk about stretching and self-massage. So if you are getting sore legs and if you are getting sore joints, doing a little bit of stretching and self-massage can be really, really, really useful. Now, when we're talking about stretching, generally sore muscles, if you get the end of the day hiking and you're like certain muscles are sore, literally just doing a really simple stretch on whatever those muscles are, or a little bit of rolling and self-massage on those muscles can be super simple. So if the front of your legs are sore, doing a stretch for the front of your legs, doing a bit of self-massage on that.

[4:19] Now, you may be thinking, okay, Rowan, what do you mean about self-massage? What I literally mean is basically just doing a bit of massage on that area. At home, we'll often have access to foam rollers or massage balls, and a lot of people will use those, and you may be familiar with this. Not super practical to have one of those on the trail, but if you get creative, there's a lot of things you can use. I've had a lot of my clients in the past use water bottles to good effect, so if they've got sore muscles just rolling up and down on a water bottle, I've had a lot of people use trekking poles and use the same thing just to kind of get in the area. Also a really cool product is getting one of these like a cork massage ball now these things will cost you five or ten dollars they're super super super light and you can use this as a massage ball and it can just leave it in your pack really really really worthwhile so generally sore muscles that can be good now when we're looking at sore joints so if we've ever got a sore joint lower back the knees whatever may be general rule of thumb and something that anyone can figure out without any type of knowledge around exercise or pain or whatever it may be, is nine times out of ten, if you have a sore joint on the trail, if you do a little bit of stretching and a little bit of rolling of the muscles above and below that sore joint, it can typically give a little bit of relief. So we're not so much doing the joint itself and trying to dig into that sore spot, but we're getting the muscles above and below.

[5:37] So if you're waking up in the morning with a little bit of lower back stiffness, then we can think, okay, what are the muscles above and below that? Well, above the lower back, we've got the mid-back, and then below, we've got the glutes and the front of the hips. So doing a little bit of stretching or rolling can work on that.

[5:52] Now, to give you a few ideas, there's a bunch of different things you could do, but if you look in a mid-back, you could do something as simple as like a cat-cow exercise, where we're basically just pushing up into an arch, coming down into another arch, and just going through that. And spending maybe two minutes before bed doing this can often just release that mid-back, take a bit of pressure off the back.

[6:09] Off the lower back. An example of using that massage ball is this one's a little glute ball release, where basically you've got a ball, and in this situation on the trail, we'll be using the cork massage ball. And basically what you're doing is just kind of positioning it on your bum. You can do this in your tent, or you can do this when you're just basically on the ground, and just doing a little bit of rolling, up and forth, up and forth. And again, spending a couple of minutes just releasing off that glute, that can often help. And then for the hips, again, a bunch of different things you could do for the hips, but this is an example of a simple stretch you could do. It's just a frog stretch where basically you would do this in your tent or in your bed or you could do it if you've got a nice grassy spot in camp and basically knees wide just pushing your knees out and then sinking into it and really really getting a stretch through the front of the hips maybe in front of the thighs taking a bit of pressure out. Now there's a million and one different stretches and releases you can do for these areas but they're just a few examples and I'll put links to that in the video description below. And the idea behind this is what you would do is basically you'd have an end-of-day routine. So at the end of every day when you're in camp, just before you go to bed, do a few things to release these areas and that can help. And then also do a bit of a start-of-day routine. So if you're aware that lower back gets tired in the morning, just when you get up, when you're packing up, just spend five or 10 minutes limbering up, loosening it up can go a long way.

[7:25] Next up, magnesium. Magnesium is a really, really great supplement to bring on multi-day adventures. if you struggle with sleep, if you struggle with sore muscles, can be really, really useful. Typically, magnesium is just kind of a natural muscle relaxer. So essentially what it does is it calms the body down, helps the muscles relax, can be really good just for general soreness and also aiding our sleep. You can get like capsules. So basically just bring a few capsules, just take them before bed, or you can get some powder and mix it up in water. Really, really simple, very, very cheap, very, very effective. As with any type of supplement, what I would recommend is if you are doing this and using this, just make sure you test it at home, see how the body responds to it, make sure the stomach's all happy, but that can be a really good option. And you just get that down to local pharmacy, super simple.

[8:08] Another option is if you are getting sore muscles or sore joints, it's using some type of muscle cream can help. So going down the local pharmacy and just getting some type of heat cream, which generally warms up the muscles and helps that feel a little bit better. Or you can get something that's like a natural anti-inflammatory, which is pretty much a heat cream, but it's just like got a few other bits and pieces in it. What I mean by this is, you know, in Australia, I've got really like the brand PhysioCreme, which is basically you can get in like a lot of pharmacies. And what it's got is, it's just a little thing you put on your muscles. It's got a bunch of different like things, Arnica, Hyperium, whatever all that stuff is. But it feels quite good and it can be quite good just for helping the muscles feel a bit more comfortable using in the evening, using in the morning, whatever it may be. That stuff really, really cheap, very, very effective, weighing way too much and can be pretty good. One thing I will sort of say on that front is these creams, they all do have a bit of a scent to them because you're using like Arnica or something like that. So it may not be appropriate in all parts of the world. So if you have to worry about particularly animals getting attracted by scents may not be a great option, but that can be something you're looking to. Another option is sports compression garments. Now sports compression garments, I am a big fan for multi-day and overnight hiking and just hikers in general. Essentially what they are is just basically, what is this?

[9:25] Is basically just sports tights. And what they are is compression recovery garments are just kind of tight sports tights. The idea behind them is essentially they just help aid our circulation when we're not actively moving. So generally when we're exercising, and when we're hiking, got lots of blood moving around, all well and good. Sometimes if we just stop and we sit around and we're not really doing so much, that's a natural way the body goes. But if we can keep a little bit of extra circulation, it can often be nice for sore legs, helping us recover, whatever it may be. So the idea behind sports compression garments is we may get to the end of the day and just wear them for a couple of hours in camp while you're having dinner, whatever it may be, keep that circulation going, help ease those legs off, can be quite nice. Or alternatively you can also wear them overnight and wear them while you're sleeping just to keep a little bit extra going while you sleep now they are relatively tight so test this out if it's comfortable cool if you sleep perfectly happily um great in them that's great um if they're a bit uncomfortable and you're like that actually disrupts my sleep a little bit not a great option for you just wear them around camp now when i'm talking about this stuff i am talking about sports compression garments sports compression recovery garments so not the hospital grade stuff or the airplane stuff but the sports stuff um only drawback of that it will cost you a little bit of money it's like 100 bucks for a pair of tights depending on where you are in the world that can be a good option um.

[10:46] And can be quite nice. A few more bits and pieces, sleep aids. So just something generally nice, which can just help trigger sleep a little bit more. Simple options like chamomile tea. Chamomile tea will help with our sleep hormones a little bit. Can be a really good option. Super cheap, super lightweight.

[11:03] If you, at the end of the day, just when you're sitting around the campfire, whatever it may be, have a bit of chamomile tea before bed, can help everything just calm down a little bit. Only drawback to that is obviously getting up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet, not great. So if you're the type of person that like, hey, if I drink something at the end of the day, I probably have to get up a bit more, might not be the best option. And then even getting like melatonin. Melatonin is like a natural sleep aid, can be really good. You can get it down to local pharmacy. I think you can get some slightly stronger stuff from the doctor, the GP, but that can be a good option as well.

[11:35] And then finally, last little bit is mental decompression. So as much as we talked about a lot of physical stuff there to help the body feel better, help the body feel a bit more comfortable, sometimes we can just get to the end of the day. We can get into bed or we can get into our tent or whatever we're sleeping in and we can be physically tired. We can be like, oh my gosh, I am knackered, but we're just mentally wired. We're just thinking a million thoughts and this and that, and we just can't switch off. So sometimes just having something to help mentally relaxed can be really useful. Could be anything, like there's a million and one things you do here, a few simple options, journaling, getting a pen and paper and just writing whatever's in your thought down can be really good. Obviously, logistically, that's a little bit extra weight, and you got to bring a pen, bring a paper.

[12:19] Logistically, in the dark, sometimes a little bit tricky. For me, I always do it. I love it. It's great, but up to you. Even doing something like deep breathing, just spending like five minutes, just concentrating on your breath, breathing in and out, just really, really intentionally. And that can sometimes help just mentally or even just reading. Like I always bring a Kindle on my adventures because I love reading at the end of the day and just reading. Again, it's a little bit more weight, but it can just help us mentally calm down a little bit. So there's a bunch of different ideas there and all of those will help in slightly different ways.

[12:49] Generally with this type of stuff is what we want to do is we want to take these sort of ideas and just do trial and error and just see what kind of works for you, what's practical, what's easy, what feels good, what feels like it makes a bit of a difference, and just sort of see what is going to slip into you. And then the idea behind this is you take a bunch of these ideas, you test them out, and then you create for yourself a bit of a routine. So it's not just doing random things after a while, but you've actually got two or three or four or five things which you do in order, which you know helps your sleep. And then essentially what you can do is just fall into that as a routine. You just do it again and again and again. And if you can practice this at home and actually ingrain this into your routine at home, it can be a little bit more powerful. Because once we actually get a routine and we've done a bunch of times and week after week after week, you can actually start to signal to the body, hey, it's time to sleep if we do these two or three things in a row. So then when you get on the trail and you actually do these two or three things, yes, it will help your legs. Yes, it will help your muscles. but just because it's a routine just because psychologically or how much it's ingrained in you can actually help to sleep for that as well so it can be quite interesting but all in all a few different ideas there hopefully that does make a little bit of a difference as i said sleep on multi-day hikes can be tricky particularly if we are pushing ourselves and doing difficult hikes and really really pushing the limits of our endurance but hopefully that gives a few ideas and hopefully that can make a bit of a difference so if anyone has any follow-up questions on that please let me know but hopefully that helps and hopefully you can get a good rest on the trail.

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