When you wake up tired and your body feels it
Dr Nicola Tik
The alarm goes, you feel like you have barely slept, and by mid-morning your neck and back are already complaining at your desk. Some nights you might even be woken by a sudden, gripping cramp in your calf. Sleep and how your body feels are closely linked, and a few small habits can help on both fronts.
Sleep is when your body does much of its repair work and your nervous system resets. After a poor night, discomfort tends to feel stronger, and you are often less inclined to move, which can leave you feeling stiffer still.
Over the longer term, the link is just as clear. A Norwegian study followed thousands of adults over about ten years. People who slept poorly over the long term were more likely to develop lasting aches and pains than those who slept well. Encouragingly, people whose sleep improved had a lower risk than those whose sleep stayed poor. Sleep is something you can change, and that change seems to matter.
Something to try:
Being active during the day helps too. Many people find they sleep more soundly on days they have moved more.
On mornings after a poor night, it is easy to sit down at your desk and barely move until lunch. That is when stiffness tends to build.
You could try starting the day with a few minutes of gentle movement, standing up for your first call, and getting up from your desk for a minute every hour or so. Small bursts of movement keep your muscles from settling into one position, and they can give you a little lift in energy too.
A night cramp is a sudden, involuntary tightening of a muscle, often in the calf. It can last from a few seconds to several minutes. Night cramps are very common, with around half of adults experiencing them at some point, and for many people there is no clear cause.
A gentle calf stretch before bed is something to try. Stand facing a wall with your hands on it. Step one foot back, keep that heel on the floor and your back knee straight, then lean forward until you feel a gentle stretch in your calf. Hold for a slow count of 20 to 30, then swap sides.
In one trial with adults over 55, stretching the calves and the backs of the thighs each night before bed for six weeks reduced both how often cramps happened and how strong they felt. Another trial did not find the same effect, so the evidence is mixed, but it is a simple and low-risk thing to try. If you would like a guided calf stretch, VIDA has a short video you can follow at your own pace.
When a cramp strikes, gently stretching the muscle is usually the quickest way to ease it. You could pull your toes up towards your shin, or stand up and put your weight through the leg with your heel on the floor. Walking around for a minute can help too. Once it settles, a gentle rub or a warm shower can ease any lingering tightness.
During the day, drinking enough fluids is worth keeping in mind. Some people also find that cutting back on alcohol and caffeine later in the day helps.