Lerner Health & Wellness Center - The George Washington University

Group Fitness ♦ Summer 2013 Session 1 Schedule 5/20-7/3

Like to work out?! Learn to share that with others!
Register for the *2-credit* ACE PT Prep Course
Questions? Email erinm@gwu.edu.

Faculty & Staff ♦ Bike-to-Work and shower at LHWC ♦ $50/Summer

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Control Desk
202.994.1532

Equipment Rental/Court Reservations
202.994.1744

Membership Office 202.994.1763

Campus Fresh
202.994.5617

Office of Campus Recreation
202.994.1626
Email:fit4life@gwu.edu

All registered students (graduate and undergraduate) on the Foggy Bottom and Mount Vernon campuses are automatically enrolled for access to the Lerner Health and Wellness Center on a semester-by-semester basis. Faculty and Staff are eligible to purchase membership.

Reminder that reservations are required for SQUASH and
RACQUETBALL courts. Please call our reservation desk at 202.994.1744. Doors to all courts will remain locked when not reserved/in-use.

The Missing Piece of the PuZZZ…le
by Abby Wolfe

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, as will as at least 30 minutes of exercise every day. The majority of us are well versed in two of the major lifestyle behaviors that lead to a well-balanced and healthy life—healthy eating habits and a consistent exercise regimen. However, there is an additional lifestyle behavior that is essential to your health – sleep.

Benefits of Sleep
•    Improved mood
•    Improved memory
•    Sharpened attention
•    Weight maintenance
•    Weight loss
•    Reduced stress
•    Increased athletic performance

Focus on Quality Sleep
It is not just sleep that is important—it’s quality sleep. The average college student requires approximately 8 to 9 hours of sleep every night. Unfortunately, averaging the amount of hours you sleep during a week does not count. Sleeping in on the weekends will not make up for a lack of sleep during the weekdays. In addition, sleep quality is influenced by sleep efficiency, which is the amount of time that you are in bed that you are actually sleeping, not reading, tossing and turning, or laying in a “half-sleep.” Below are some ways in which to increase your sleep efficiency and thus your sleep quality.

Develop Consistent Sleeping Patterns
Try to go to sleep at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning. With your hectic schedules, this may seem impossible. However, making the effort to do this as much as possible may increase the quality of your sleep and thus increase the quality of your time spent awake.

Turn Everything Off!
The subtlest of noises and light—the buzz of a text message, the light from your phone, the background chatter of the television show you fell asleep to—can severely disturb your sleep and put your sleeping patterns off track.

Avoid Caffeine, Exercise, and Eating Close to Bedtime
Exercise, eating, and the consumption of caffeine all have physiological effects on your body that prevent your body from fully focusing on sleep. If your body is trying hard to bring its internal temperature and heart rate down after a workout, digesting a late night snack, or counteracting the effects of a stimulant like caffeine, it can not fully shut down to send you into the deep sleep that you and your body need to rest and recover. The general “rule” is that one should stop eating, exercising, and drinking caffeine 2-3 hours prior to bedtime.

Create the Ideal Sleeping Environment
Make sure that your sleeping environment is cool, dark, and comfortable.