Order of Man - OoM 071： Sleep Done Right with Ted Ryce

00:00:00.000 If you're anything like the way I used to be, you subscribe to the theory of I'll sleep when I'm dead.

00:00:04.320 But as I get older and I continue to focus on improving all aspects of my life,

00:00:08.300 I can see and feel how critical the proper amount and quality of my sleep is.

00:00:12.800 Today I talk with Ted Rice, the first repeat guest on the Order of Man podcast,

00:00:16.540 about the importance of sleep, what it means to equip your sleep cave,

00:00:20.340 and three critical factors in getting the best sleep possible.

00:00:24.140 You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest.

00:00:27.000 Embrace your fears and boldly chart your own path.

00:00:29.680 When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time, every time.

00:00:34.440 You are not easily deterred or defeated, rugged, resilient, strong.

00:00:39.460 This is your life. This is who you are.

00:00:41.960 This is who you will become at the end of the day.

00:00:44.900 And after all is said and done, you can call yourself a man.

00:00:49.120 Men, what is going on today? My name is Ryan Michler and I am your host and the founder of Order of Man.

00:00:53.600 As always, I'm glad you're here with us today.

00:00:55.300 You know by now this is the manliest show available.

00:00:57.660 We talk about everything from the psychology of building relationships to asking for a raise

00:01:01.800 to starting a business, self-defense techniques and strategies, what it means to be a man, and so much more.

00:01:07.520 Now, you know I'm not a guy who wastes a lot of time, so we're just going to jump right into this one today.

00:01:11.820 I've got a great one for you.

00:01:13.280 Our very first repeat guest here on the Order of Man podcast.

00:01:17.180 And today we're going to be talking about all things sleep.

00:01:19.100 But before I introduce you to my guest, I want you to know that you can find all the show notes for this show at orderofman.com slash 071.

00:01:27.140 And make sure that you join our closed men's Facebook group because we're having a deeper conversation on the topic of sleep done right.

00:01:33.720 And you can do that at facebook.com slash groups slash order of man.

00:01:37.540 Now, I want to introduce you to my friend, Ted Rice.

00:01:39.560 He is a personal trainer, a peak performance coach and podcaster, and has overcome some tremendous odds and obstacles on his quest to live a legendary life.

00:01:48.280 Ted has worked with Fortune 500 CEOs, busy professionals and celebrities, including Richard Branson, Ricky Martin, and Robert Downey Jr.

00:01:55.500 He helps his clients develop and stick with high performance habits that help them manage stress and adversity and lead to more successful lives.

00:02:02.560 His philosophy is that being a high performance person, one who chases and achieves their biggest goals, is not a luxury.

00:02:08.740 It's a necessity to survive and thrive in the modern world.

00:02:11.760 He has spent the last 16 years experimenting with exercise and nutrition, supplementation and methods for what works and what doesn't.

00:02:19.340 Again, a good friend of mine, I can tell you that Ted has a passion for helping men build muscle, lose fat, develop more confidence, and go after what they really want in life.

00:02:30.040 Ted, what's going on, man?

00:02:31.160 I'm glad you're on the show again.

00:02:33.180 Absolutely, Ryan.

00:02:34.140 Thanks for having me back.

00:02:35.520 It's been a while, and I can see from your Skype picture here that your beard has grown considerably.

00:02:43.160 It has.

00:02:43.740 I need to get that thing updated because I think it's probably about four or five inches longer at this point.

00:02:48.160 So I do need to get that updated on top of all the other things that I need to do, right?

00:02:52.360 Yeah, the retreat, everything that we have going on, you know?

00:02:57.860 It's a fun but busy time.

00:03:00.220 It is, for sure.

00:03:01.960 Well, I told you before we hit record, and I'm going to let the guys know they're listening to this.

00:03:06.420 You are the very first repeat guest on the Order of Man podcast.

00:03:10.460 So how do you feel about that?

00:03:12.040 I think that's awesome, man.

00:03:13.580 I'm grateful for the opportunity, and it's good to be the first, breaking some new ground here.

00:03:18.980 That's right.

00:03:19.400 Well, it's an important topic, and it's not real mainstream because I listened to you at a men's style con, which is a men's conference in Atlanta.

00:03:29.580 I think it's in the spring sometime.

00:03:31.580 I'm not sure of the date in 2017.

00:03:33.320 But you talked a lot about sleep.

00:03:35.040 We had a lot of conversations over dinner about some of these things.

00:03:37.900 And learning to have a better body and all of the tools and resources and strategies that come with that are very, very important to me because it literally impacts every area of your life.

00:03:50.080 So why don't you talk to me about why you think this stuff that you're teaching is so critical, and then we'll get down to the nitty-gritty.

00:03:56.900 Absolutely.

00:03:57.880 And before we jump into that, it was a lot of fun hanging out with you, having dinner, and spending that one-on-one time and getting to know a person outside of the podcast world.

00:04:10.320 It was a lot of fun.

00:04:11.840 For sure.

00:04:12.100 In terms of eating, sleeping, moving, I think a lot of guys don't get the fact that we are human beings.

00:04:24.620 Now, whether you believe in evolution, whether you are Christian, whether you believe in religion, no matter how you think we got here, there are certain rules that the human body follows to function optimally.

00:04:38.240 And we can never get around that.

00:04:39.700 There's no psychological technique.

00:04:42.300 There's no meditation trick to go without air, right?

00:04:46.480 You can't stop breathing.

00:04:48.140 There's no way you can tough that out.

00:04:50.680 There's no technique for that simply because we have these rules.

00:04:56.480 And so I think a lot of guys, they listen to your show, they listen to my show, and perhaps they're thinking about the philosophy about what it means to be a man, and that's super important.

00:05:08.540 But I'd like everyone listening to think – let's go a little bit more fundamental and think about what does it mean to be a man at the physiological level?

00:05:20.840 What did we used to do?

00:05:22.360 And human beings are – we were super predators.

00:05:27.900 We were hunters.

00:05:28.820 We were built to run.

00:05:30.200 We have a vestibular system that keeps our heads in line with our bodies so we can run fast after our prey.

00:05:38.120 We know from anthropological evidence that we were great hunters, and that was part of our past, our ancestry, right?

00:05:48.240 Sure.

00:05:48.440 And we're so far removed from that right now, and we wonder why we're depressed even though we don't have any big tragedy in our life.

00:05:56.040 We think about like why am I not happy when all you do is sit down and watch TV for hours on end or play Pokemon Go, right?

00:06:07.040 Yeah, I had a post about that a couple of weeks ago, and people went crazy.

00:06:10.940 Not in a good way.

00:06:11.900 I mean they were upset I called them out on Pokemon Go.

00:06:13.900 I have not – I put it on my phone, but I haven't messed around with it.

00:06:18.620 But it's like, man, I'm too busy.

00:06:20.600 I can't even – I can't even turn this thing on.

00:06:23.060 I got to – I'm always curious because I'm interested in technology.

00:06:27.460 But back to answering what we're talking about here, if life isn't the way you want it to be, if you don't like what you see in the mirror, you've got to take control of that.

00:06:39.020 And what I say is that health and fitness form the foundation of success.

00:06:43.000 And how do you reach that level of health so that you perform better in your life, not just look better but perform better?

00:06:50.760 It has to do with eating, moving, and sleeping, man.

00:06:53.900 Right.

00:06:54.200 Yeah.

00:06:54.420 I mean it really is that basic.

00:06:56.040 I think us – maybe as men, I don't know, just human beings in general, we're always looking for shortcuts.

00:07:00.580 But you talk about these rules, which I want to talk about with you today, and it really is that simple.

00:07:06.520 And I think a lot of the times guys mistake simplicity with being easy.

00:07:10.680 It's definitely not easy.

00:07:11.800 But if we can just learn to overcome looking for shortcuts and really get down to the basics, I think we're going to have a lot more success.

00:07:20.140 Absolutely.

00:07:21.140 And it can be very complex.

00:07:23.140 I've spent 17 years of my life studying the science behind these principles.

00:07:29.080 So it can be very complex, but the basics are the same.

00:07:34.020 You've got to eat the right things.

00:07:36.500 You've got to move your body.

00:07:38.360 And you've got to sleep better.

00:07:40.120 We can take this wherever you want to go, man.

00:07:42.480 If we want to talk – if you want to talk more about how to structure workouts for maximum results, why sleeping is important, what my principles of nutrition are, you lead the way, Ryan.

00:07:53.920 So I actually want to talk about sleep for a couple of different reasons.

00:07:56.980 Number one, we haven't talked about it on the show.

00:07:58.660 So I think it will be a topic that the guys listening in today are going to find some interest in.

00:08:03.060 Number two, I feel like over the last maybe week to three weeks, I've really felt like my sleep just hasn't been where it needs to be.

00:08:12.120 And I noticed myself tired throughout the day.

00:08:14.560 So let's talk about sleep first.

00:08:16.820 And if we get into the rest, great.

00:08:18.420 If not, I still think it will be a great conversation for the guys to listen in.

00:08:21.900 Absolutely.

00:08:22.980 And the way I'd like to frame this is I never cared about sleep.

00:08:27.680 Yeah.

00:08:27.900 Most guys don't.

00:08:29.480 Absolutely.

00:08:30.100 In fact, that's where you short yourself.

00:08:32.920 You're like, hey, I'm going to go into the gym and crush it.

00:08:35.160 In my 20s, all I did was work out hard.

00:08:38.740 And I would eat a lot of protein and take a bunch of supplements.

00:08:41.940 And I was always looking for like, what's the magic supplement here?

00:08:45.040 What's the magic workout here?

00:08:46.900 And that was for better results from exercise.

00:08:49.260 But it wasn't until I started hitting around 30 after I crashed and burned from too much jujitsu, too many jujitsu competitions, too much heavy lifting, too much work and cutting back on sleep.

00:09:05.500 I didn't even realize I slept horribly.

00:09:08.220 And for those of the listeners that are there, oh, OK, well, all right.

00:09:14.280 Well, let me ask you this.

00:09:16.180 How many supplements are marketed towards men talking about testosterone?

00:09:20.980 And what about hormonal replacement therapy?

00:09:23.800 Hey, do you have low T?

00:09:26.420 There's all this marketing.

00:09:28.240 And what I'm here to tell you is that, OK, there are some situations where you may need that.

00:09:33.280 But as far as the supplements are concerned, we look for diets, we look for workouts, we look for supplements.

00:09:39.900 But there's research that shows that sleep is one of the key things if you want to optimize your testosterone levels.

00:09:47.720 There was a study done in the University of Chicago by Dr. E. Van Cotter, who's done a lot of research on sleep, a lot of fascinating research on sleep.

00:09:56.640 And they took a group of young guys, guys in their 20s, healthy guys, guys without kids running around, guys who know medical problems.

00:10:04.300 In fact, they were probably university students.

00:10:06.360 They were grad school students.

00:10:08.040 They deprived them of sleep for one week.

00:10:12.580 And I believe the deprivation was five hours or less.

00:10:15.520 I don't remember the exact amount, but it was five hours or less.

00:10:19.820 And at the end of the week, they tested their testosterone, right?

00:10:24.640 They tested it before.

00:10:25.540 Then after that week of sleep deprivation, they tested it again.

00:10:28.640 They had the levels of testosterone of men who were 10 years older, 15 years older.

00:10:35.560 Yeah, interesting.

00:10:36.820 Well, I don't want to get sidetracked, Ted, too much on this.

00:10:39.260 I mean, just to talk about testosterone while you've been addressing it here.

00:10:42.920 Talk to me about the benefits of making sure testosterone levels for men are exactly where they need to be.

00:10:49.580 Yeah, you know, exactly where they need to be.

00:10:52.140 That's a whole other topic.

00:10:54.040 And I'm not really the best one to talk about it because I'm not a doctor who specializes on about hormones.

00:11:02.560 But I will tell you that men for testosterone, actually for women, too.

00:11:08.080 But obviously, this is Order of Man podcast, right?

00:11:10.420 Sure, sure.

00:11:10.960 So testosterone, if you want to look your best, if you want to put on muscle easily, if you want to burn fat easily, you've got to have optimal testosterone levels.

00:11:21.900 If you want to have high libido, right?

00:11:24.880 If you want your sex life to be great, you've got to have optimal levels of testosterone.

00:11:29.900 And like we talked about, sleep deprivation can crush that.

00:11:33.740 We talked about 20-year-old guys.

00:11:35.760 But what happens when you're 30 or 40 and you have kids and you have a stressful job?

00:11:40.020 How much more crushing do you think sleep deprivation can be for you to your testosterone levels?

00:11:47.660 There hasn't been research done yet, but probably a lot, right?

00:11:51.040 That's what we can extrapolate.

00:11:53.260 And another thing to keep in mind is that the more body fat we have on us as men, we're designed to have some body fat, right?

00:12:01.380 Because without it, we would starve to death within a few days of going without food.

00:12:07.220 So that fat that surrounds our body insulates us and also serves as a source of energy.

00:12:14.360 However, when you have so much of it that spills over your belt line and you haven't seen Uncle Willie down there when you use the bathroom in a good while, that causes huge issues with testosterone.

00:12:32.160 Why?

00:12:32.780 Because your body actually converts testosterone into estrogen through a process called aromatization.

00:12:39.560 And it happens in your fat.

00:12:42.980 So fat, excess fat for men, crushes us in that way.

00:12:47.960 So if you're a little bit more sensitive than you should be and you've got some fat to lose, that can help.

00:12:54.420 Also sleep.

00:12:55.740 And sleep can affect our memory, our mental performance as well in case you're just shaking your head like,

00:13:02.700 I don't care about the way I looked at it, I'm an intellectual, I value my brain.

00:13:09.100 Well, it affects your performance mentally as well.

00:13:12.500 And there's a ton of research on it.

00:13:14.940 You just Google it, right?

00:13:16.800 Or come listen to my podcast.

00:13:18.860 And I've interviewed experts as well as done my own episodes on that as well as giving talks on sleep.

00:13:26.740 And let's talk about maybe how to optimize sleep if you're up for that.

00:13:31.320 Yeah, I mean, I really want to talk about what the components are because I think at the most basic level,

00:13:36.120 most guys would probably think, well, we hear the things like, you can sleep when you're dead, right?

00:13:40.360 That's what a lot of guys think, knee-jerk reaction.

00:13:42.740 But then the other side of it is like, just get a comfortable mattress and everything else will take care of itself.

00:13:47.580 But what other components are involved with proper sleep?

00:13:50.580 Absolutely.

00:13:51.420 And just to preface, just to tackle what you said about I'll sleep when I'm dead.

00:13:56.500 Man, I'm putting together this coaching program right now and doing some other things.

00:14:01.320 I'm not having optimal levels of sleep, right?

00:14:05.660 And sometimes we need to do that.

00:14:07.920 But when we don't have a pressing project when there's nothing going on, number one is we need to prioritize it.

00:14:16.080 And when it's just a Tuesday night and nothing big is going on and you just want to watch another episode to catch up on Game of Thrones or Vikings,

00:14:24.240 perhaps skip out on the second or third episode and get to bed earlier.

00:14:29.460 Now, the three critical things that you can do that you need to pay attention to with sleep are what time you go to bed.

00:14:38.240 Our bodies have a clock.

00:14:41.080 That's why you can't cross a time zone without getting jet lagged, right?

00:14:45.100 So our bodies know what time it is.

00:14:47.820 You can't – now, a lot of people think, at least I used to think this, that, okay, well, I'll go to bed.

00:14:53.760 Whether I go to bed at 10 o'clock and wake up at 6 a.m., or if I go to bed at 2 in the morning and wake up at 10,

00:15:01.240 it doesn't matter as long as I've had eight hours of sleep.

00:15:03.580 But the research clearly shows the earlier that we go to bed in the night, the deeper, better quality sleep that we get.

00:15:13.040 And especially for the testosterone levels.

00:15:15.000 That happens in the first half of the night.

00:15:17.560 So, man, optimally, you want to be in bed around 10 p.m.

00:15:21.300 I mean asleep by 10 p.m., 11 p.m.

00:15:24.260 That means you've got to get to bed half an hour to an hour earlier.

00:15:27.960 I know it takes me half an hour to wind down after a long day of work.

00:15:32.060 So that's something that can be critical.

00:15:34.840 I imagine that this is part of evolutionary programming, right?

00:15:37.680 Because we are going to be asleep at night, and we always have been for the last tens of thousands of years.

00:15:42.960 And then we're going to be up during the day doing our activities, whether it's we were cavemen 10,000 years ago,

00:15:47.880 or whether you're in front of a computer or at the gym or whatever it is that we're doing now.

00:15:53.700 Absolutely.

00:15:54.560 It's evolutionary programming.

00:15:57.160 It's in the genes.

00:15:58.420 There's no way you can get around it.

00:16:00.000 Some people have what are called shorter sleep genes, but that's like I think 1% of the population or 3% of the population.

00:16:09.060 So probably not us, right?

00:16:11.320 Yeah.

00:16:11.660 Yeah.

00:16:12.020 So let's talk about that.

00:16:14.120 That's one thing, okay?

00:16:15.640 And going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time can help you set a schedule.

00:16:20.460 But let's talk about things that require way less work than that.

00:16:24.520 We know that blue light from our computers, from our smartphones, from our iPads, from the lamps in our house,

00:16:33.240 from the lamps outside shining in our windows if we live in a city, right?

00:16:38.300 That light messes us up.

00:16:40.620 So what I want you to do, get rid of all the light in your bedroom.

00:16:44.880 How do you do that?

00:16:46.160 Buy blackout blinds and cover every single window.

00:16:49.960 The second thing you can do, because I have blackout blinds right now and light still comes in, right?

00:16:56.980 But it blocks out most of it.

00:16:58.920 I wear a sleep mask because I'm a bit – I'm a sensitive guy when it comes to sleep, Brian.

00:17:05.400 So this is your thing though, right?

00:17:06.800 So you got to be a little bit.

00:17:08.700 Well, that's how I learned about it.

00:17:11.260 I sleep like a Vietnam vet or Iraq vet. 0.68

00:17:14.360 I know I didn't join the military or have been to war like you, Ryan, but I sleep – I'm a very light sleeper.

00:17:20.800 I get woken up easily.

00:17:22.120 Light can wake you up or prevent you from falling asleep.

00:17:25.580 Here's another thing you can do.

00:17:27.140 Cool your room down.

00:17:29.420 You will not believe the benefit, how deep you get into sleep, how fast you get to sleep if you cool the room down.

00:17:37.420 How cool?

00:17:38.740 You're looking at in between 64 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

00:17:42.380 I'm a Miami guy.

00:17:44.580 It's hot out here and I get cold easily.

00:17:47.260 So I'm about 68 degrees and that works well for me.

00:17:51.320 Right.

00:17:51.540 It's just a matter of experimentation I'm sure as well.

00:17:54.880 Exactly.

00:17:55.640 Absolutely.

00:17:56.820 There's been research that shows if you're an insomnia – if you're a person who suffers from insomnia, you want to really try that one out.

00:18:03.900 There's research that showed when they used a cooling cap on these people with insomnia that they fell asleep just as fast as regular people.

00:18:14.660 So that's something to experiment with.

00:18:16.860 In fact, I have a cooling cap, right?

00:18:19.140 That – man, I can give you the link to it if you want to put up some of this.

00:18:23.720 But let's go on because there's more.

00:18:25.420 I just want to see a picture of your room and your bed and all the gadgets and gizmos that you wear when you go to bed.

00:18:31.220 That's what I really want to see.

00:18:33.100 I'll tell you what.

00:18:34.060 I got a breathe right strip on my nose because I – believe it or not, I have some apnea events.

00:18:40.640 That's when I stop breathing at night.

00:18:43.320 Yeah.

00:18:43.480 I have earplugs in, which is another thing.

00:18:46.620 Both of those things are good tips.

00:18:48.760 Sound can rip you out of deep sleep.

00:18:51.280 There is actually a video online showing a sleep study going on from the same person that I mentioned earlier, Dr. Evang Cotter at University of Chicago.

00:19:00.160 It shows them with some college student in bed and the grad student who's like performing the research because the big doctor, she's asleep then, right?

00:19:12.700 Right, right.

00:19:13.840 The grad student's making these loud noises all night long and it never fully wakes the college student up.

00:19:22.500 But they looked at – as soon as they made the loud noise, it would rip them right out of deep sleep.

00:19:28.540 How do they know that?

00:19:29.920 Because they watched the brain waves.

00:19:32.300 Sure.

00:19:32.660 You can wake up after eight hours of sleep and feel like garbage simply because it was too noisy out.

00:19:40.360 Yeah.

00:19:40.440 I live in a noisy place here in Miami Beach.

00:19:42.320 So sleeping with earplugs can do that and that – man, you go to CBS, get the superior soft foam ones because the harder ear – the earplugs can bother your ears if you use them a lot.

00:19:55.180 So – and also invest it in your bed.

00:19:58.860 You know, people throw down $3,000 for the new 4K super high definition TV but they sleep in the same bed that they've had for like eight years.

00:20:08.720 Mm-hmm.

00:20:09.740 Yeah.

00:20:10.140 What's actually going to be more productive, your level of sleep or a camera that's going to last you a couple of years?

00:20:15.020 Absolutely.

00:20:16.100 You know, those are just some things to do.

00:20:18.440 Now, obviously, exercise can help as well.

00:20:21.440 And most people who just do mental work, knowledge work all day and they never use their body, they don't understand why they're so exhausted at night but not really ready to fall asleep.

00:20:34.240 It's in part because of that.

00:20:37.640 Another thing is coffee.

00:20:39.860 If you drink coffee too late in the day, coffee has caffeine in it, of course.

00:20:45.800 Caffeine takes forever to get out of your system.

00:20:48.980 And caffeine blocks this very essential chemical that starts to build up in your brain as the day goes on.

00:20:57.560 It's called adenosine, right?

00:20:58.800 And no need to geek out too much but this stuff builds up in your brain and it's part – this buildup of adenosine is partly what triggers your body to say, hey, guy, it's – you're getting tired here.

00:21:13.480 Caffeine blocks the receptor for adenosine.

00:21:17.200 You may be tired physically but you've interrupted this communication system and your body doesn't realize it.

00:21:26.660 Like you don't realize it.

00:21:28.040 So I say no caffeine past noon.

00:21:31.520 Some people who – I mean we know like I got an Italian friend.

00:21:35.640 He can down an espresso after dinner and still go to bed.

00:21:39.320 So people again, like you said earlier, you got to experiment.

00:21:43.400 You got to see what works for yourself but try some of the things.

00:21:46.720 Try everything.

00:21:47.780 If you got bad sleep, try everything I said and see if it doesn't make a difference for you.

00:21:52.540 Do an experiment, a sleep experiment and try things out.

00:21:56.340 Now, quick mid-podcast break, guys.

00:21:59.980 You have heard me talk about it by now.

00:22:01.540 Our very first live event, The Order of Man Uprising, September 15th through the 18th, 2016 in the mountains of southern Utah.

00:22:07.960 Too many guys out there are living a life that they are not meant to live and at the end of the day, we as a collective of men have seemed to have lost our way.

00:22:15.200 We're not serving our families or our businesses, our communities the way that they need to be served and I'm here to work alongside you to make sure that changes.

00:22:23.140 Between the tactical scenarios, we'll be running to survival situations, to planning and executing the perfect day.

00:22:28.120 You're going to walk away with every tool, resource, and strategy you need to excel in life and live like a man. 0.99

00:22:34.080 Everything, guys, is completely included so you don't need to worry about that.

00:22:37.440 Food, lodging, events, instruction.

00:22:39.300 All you have to do is get to Las Vegas by September 15th and 11 o'clock and we will take care of the rest.

00:22:44.120 We're going to fill up these spots, guys.

00:22:45.760 So if you're interested, you need to jump on this quickly.

00:22:47.580 It's coming down to the wire.

00:22:48.520 I think we're about two months away.

00:22:49.940 Go to orderaman.com slash uprising to reserve your spot.

00:22:52.980 Now let's get back to my interview with Ted.

00:22:56.360 I want to talk about sleep duration because you mentioned that briefly and I think we kind of skimmed over it.

00:23:01.260 Is there a set amount of time that somebody should be sleeping or is this an experimentation too?

00:23:05.780 Is this different for everybody?

00:23:08.240 Now, man, that's such a great question.

00:23:10.660 And I'll tell you this, what the research seems to show is that seven and a half hours to nine hours is optimal for adult men.

00:23:20.720 If you're younger, you need more.

00:23:22.440 If you're a baby, you're adolescent, pre-adolescent, you need more.

00:23:25.900 But adult men, because that's who listens to the Order of Men podcast.

00:23:29.720 Right, right.

00:23:30.400 So seven and a half to nine hours.

00:23:32.800 People who sleep more than 10 hours, that's in the red zone according to the CDC.

00:23:37.760 And people who sleep five or less hours, that's in the red zone.

00:23:42.120 Now, if you're six or seven hours, you're not optimal, right?

00:23:46.340 You're not optimal.

00:23:47.460 And again, like you said, this is a new science.

00:23:50.700 It's not like there's set in stone rules.

00:23:53.280 But there are definitely guidelines.

00:23:55.120 And you have to experiment for yourself.

00:23:56.880 And I'll tell you, I started to experiment with longer sleep sessions because I used to – I'm a seven-hour, you know, six, seven-hour before.

00:24:04.360 And now I try to make myself sleep seven and a half, eight hours.

00:24:10.320 I feel so much better.

00:24:11.600 And when I mean feel better, my sex drive is higher.

00:24:15.160 My workouts are better.

00:24:17.840 You know, I'm sharper.

00:24:19.260 I'm not struggling to get through the day.

00:24:21.560 So it's up to you listening right now how optimal you want to be and when to go without sleep like we did during the StyleCon.

00:24:32.740 And we're hanging out, having drinks, being social or, you know, when nothing is going on.

00:24:37.920 It's our job to get ourselves to sleep and make sure that we're being the most badass men we can be.

00:24:45.500 Right.

00:24:45.720 So what's – OK.

00:24:46.600 So let's talk about the opposite side of this on the other side of this, which is too much sleep.

00:24:51.100 And I don't know that many men necessarily get this.

00:24:54.480 But what does that even look like?

00:24:55.620 Is there a point where there's just too much sleep?

00:24:57.820 Yeah, well, I haven't read all the research on this because like you mentioned, it's not something that we got to worry about too much these days.

00:25:08.200 But from what I read, if you sleep 10 hours or more, that's putting you at risk for a bunch of different issues.

00:25:16.820 So I'll have to get back on – I don't want to say something and it be wrong.

00:25:23.500 But make sure you check out what this CD says about too much sleep.

00:25:27.940 But there is a point where it's very – it's correlated with disease and with poor health.

00:25:36.100 Yeah, I imagine that's the case.

00:25:37.300 And like you said, I mean it may not even be that necessary because most guys are out there just hustling and doing their thing and they're lacking in sleep, not oversleeping.

00:25:44.820 So I get that.

00:25:47.180 Let's talk about some of the systems because we've talked about why it's important.

00:25:50.300 We've gone through some of the actual elements of proper sleep.

00:25:54.640 What are some of the systems that guys can implement really easy to start sleeping better on a nightly basis?

00:26:02.040 Yeah, and the first one, we already went over it and it's what I call equip your sleep cave.

00:26:07.340 Have all your things set up.

00:26:09.320 Go buy the blackout blinds.

00:26:11.120 Go buy the earplugs.

00:26:12.600 Go buy – if you snore loud and your wife sleeps or girlfriend sleeps on the couch because it just ain't happening, you keep waking her up, get the Breathe Right strips.

00:26:22.100 Try it out.

00:26:22.620 Or if you think you might have some mild sleep apnea, try it out.

00:26:26.860 Have all that stuff ready.

00:26:28.640 Also, you can take – you can get some Source Naturals melatonin and take 500 micrograms of it.

00:26:36.580 That can help as well.

00:26:37.440 So just equip your sleep cave.

00:26:39.320 Have all the equipment in there and that's the first thing.

00:26:42.500 That's the easiest thing you can do because you buy it, you set it up and you have it, right?

00:26:47.420 The second thing you can do is have a sleep ritual.

00:26:51.640 Now, this can be tough to do but an hour before – I do this every single night.

00:26:57.400 An hour before I want to be in bed, I start to dim the lights.

00:27:02.680 We have dimmers in our place here in Miami.

00:27:07.020 I start to cool down the room because if you're just like, oh, time to go to bed, switch the thermostat to 68 degrees.

00:27:16.120 It's going to take a while for it to cool down, at least in Miami it does.

00:27:19.420 Yeah, in your area for sure and mine as well.

00:27:21.560 So yeah, definitely.

00:27:22.520 Yeah.

00:27:22.700 So have a sleep ritual where you start to do this stuff beforehand.

00:27:26.700 So when you finally get in bed, it's an easy transition into sleep and into deep sleep.

00:27:35.180 The third thing is have a morning ritual.

00:27:38.380 Get your exercise in.

00:27:40.300 Get some natural sunlight.

00:27:42.040 We're all exposed to fluorescent lights in the office and get out there and get some sun.

00:27:47.560 If you're super freaked out about skin cancer, then just make sure you're outside with some sun.

00:27:55.460 If you are okay, get some sun on your skin.

00:27:59.280 I get sun on my skin.

00:28:00.520 I care about my vitamin D levels.

00:28:02.240 I just make sure I don't get sun burned.

00:28:05.280 Vitamin D is critical as well.

00:28:07.140 So that's another thing you can look into.

00:28:09.080 Vitamin D helps the production of serotonin, helps the production of melatonin.

00:28:13.300 Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that's well-established.

00:28:19.440 It's our antidepressant hormone.

00:28:22.280 Melatonin, we've already talked about that hormone secreted by your pineal gland to help

00:28:26.740 you get into deep sleep.

00:28:28.220 You can also buy it as a supplement.

00:28:30.980 So have that morning ritual.

00:28:32.540 Get the sun.

00:28:33.620 Get outside.

00:28:34.240 Do some exercise.

00:28:35.940 Those are the three things that you can do.

00:28:38.400 Equip your sleep cave.

00:28:39.760 Have a sleep ritual.

00:28:40.680 And have some type of morning ritual that sets you up for later in the day.

00:28:46.060 Yeah, I can see how just implementing just simple changes and making it a process.

00:28:50.440 Because a lot of people will talk about discipline.

00:28:52.220 Like, I need to be disciplined.

00:28:53.460 And I think what you're suggesting when you start having rituals and you've equipped your

00:28:56.980 cave is that it's not a matter of discipline.

00:28:59.400 It's just about executing on the system that you've created for yourself.

00:29:02.660 Absolutely.

00:29:03.580 And, you know, you don't have to be as crazy as I am.

00:29:06.440 Like I mentioned, I don't sleep that well, even with all the stuff that I do, because

00:29:11.740 I've had sleep issues because, you know, I don't need to go into it.

00:29:15.300 But if you don't have bad sleep issues, try out everything that I'm talking about.

00:29:19.940 See what works for you.

00:29:21.280 Incorporate it.

00:29:21.940 But you will challenge yourself for a week to do everything that I'm talking about.

00:29:26.760 That's called the sleep challenge, right?

00:29:28.620 Do it for seven days.

00:29:29.720 Then start to cut back on the things that seem overkill for you, that seem excessive

00:29:35.500 for you, and dial it in so that you have what works best for you and what works best

00:29:41.100 for your lifestyle.

00:29:42.680 Yeah.

00:29:43.220 I know for me, one of the big things, and this actually crosses over into another conversation

00:29:47.980 for another day, but exercise and diet and nutrition and all the other things that I

00:29:51.900 know you address has been really, really valuable for me.

00:29:54.760 There was a point in my life, and this was roughly three years ago.

00:29:57.580 And most of the guys listening to this podcast understand and know this by now.

00:30:01.400 I was 50 pounds more than what I weigh today.

00:30:04.740 And I was having some apnea issues.

00:30:07.180 I was having some restless leg issues.

00:30:09.760 I was having also some snoring problems.

00:30:12.680 And as I started to get in better shape, nutrition, exercise, diet, a lot of those things

00:30:17.960 completely went away.

00:30:19.280 I don't deal with any of those three issues at this point in my life at all.

00:30:23.280 Yeah, man.

00:30:23.740 And that's such a great story of transformation.

00:30:25.880 And I'm glad you're spreading the word about it because there's just no need to suffer.

00:30:31.180 As men, we got to take care of our health.

00:30:33.100 That's what men do. 0.72

00:30:34.600 Yep, exactly.

00:30:35.320 And it's the best way to fulfill our roles as men.

00:30:38.340 The other thing that you may have skimmed on this, I think, is also pretty important

00:30:42.620 and something that maybe you want to dive into a little bit more is screen time.

00:30:46.940 Like, I know there's a lot of apps that can actually reduce the light on your screen and

00:30:51.060 the amount of TV and those type of things that we're listening to and watching as well.

00:30:54.320 Yeah, what I use is f.lux and you can download that and put that into your computer and it

00:31:00.960 will sync with the light dark cycles in your geographic area.

00:31:07.200 And as it gets darker, it changes the shade of the screen to a more reddish hue.

00:31:14.520 Now, that seems like, OK, but the blue light, you know, that light that lights up and it looks,

00:31:21.760 you know, like the alien abduction looking light that comes from our iPhone 5s or our 6s now, right?

00:31:29.780 That is the light.

00:31:31.120 That's the spectrum of light that affects us the most.

00:31:34.060 That's the app that I use.

00:31:35.360 You can also use orange glasses and I'll be honest, you know, I haven't fooled around with

00:31:41.780 that too much, but it is an option and it blocks out the blue light.

00:31:46.100 I do everything that I've already mentioned, but that's another option that you should experiment

00:31:50.440 with in case you are someone who has to work late on the computer or be on your phone for

00:31:55.260 some reason at late, late at night.

00:31:57.060 And by the way, apps for the iPhone aren't so great.

00:32:02.080 They can get rid of some of the functionality on the iPhone.

00:32:07.100 So I'm still waiting for like the best app to come out that will block the detrimental

00:32:13.440 hues of light without rendering my iPhone unable to do the things that I need it to do.

00:32:21.760 Yeah, well, let us know when you come across it.

00:32:23.460 The one thing I want to talk about, because this is something that has specifically worked

00:32:27.620 against me is that I'm somebody who is always thinking, always has ideas, the newest, the

00:32:34.600 latest, the greatest.

00:32:35.340 The other night I literally could not fall asleep for three hours after getting in bed because

00:32:40.640 my mind was racing on a video I wanted to shoot and a new blog post and a podcast I wanted

00:32:46.560 to put out there.

00:32:47.240 So what do you suggest for the guy whose mind is always racing for the ability to shut that

00:32:51.500 off?

00:32:51.820 I love this question.

00:32:53.320 And the first thing I want to say is we think of it like, oh, my mind is racing.

00:32:58.660 It's me and I'm thinking about these things.

00:33:01.140 But what's really going on is goes back to what I first started talking about.

00:33:05.160 We're this biological machine with all these rules.

00:33:08.320 So instead of thinking that you're a guy with a mind and your mind's going crazy, think

00:33:15.200 of it as your stress levels are too high.

00:33:17.640 How do you get your stress levels low?

00:33:19.380 Well, all the sleep hygiene things I talked about will help.

00:33:23.120 But what happens when you do all that or you forgot to do it on time and your mind is

00:33:28.840 racing?

00:33:29.800 Here's what you can do.

00:33:31.100 You can do some deep breathing exercises.

00:33:34.800 And in case there's any like, whoa, I'm not going to do that.

00:33:37.840 Mark Devine, former Navy SEAL commander, does box breathing.

00:33:42.280 I personally like yoga breathing.

00:33:44.600 And I have a yoga DVD.

00:33:45.980 It's called Yoga for Martial Arts by Stefan Kesting.

00:33:49.120 And I'll run the first breathing exercise part.

00:33:52.340 Another thing you can do, and this is great for guys who need to do this anyway, do static

00:33:57.900 stretching.

00:33:59.060 You know you need some mobility because you can't reach those toes, right?

00:34:03.180 And so do some static stretching.

00:34:06.500 Do long one minute to two minute holds on the stretches, on the joints that you need more

00:34:11.760 range of motion in for your deadlifts and your pistol squats and your Olympic lifts.

00:34:18.640 And hold those stretches and focus on the breathing.

00:34:22.180 Do that for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes.

00:34:24.920 Stretch out.

00:34:26.000 Go back to bed.

00:34:27.080 Try it again.

00:34:27.760 But definitely don't lay in bed for an hour, two hours tossing and turning.

00:34:33.700 Get up.

00:34:34.520 Do something to change your physiology.

00:34:37.020 You have the power to change your physiology.

00:34:39.840 Your mind, that thing, that's not in control.

00:34:42.420 You are.

00:34:43.140 Get up out of bed.

00:34:44.720 Go do something relaxing.

00:34:47.360 And then come back and try it again.

00:34:48.780 I love the stretching personally.

00:34:51.200 Yeah, I'll have to try that.

00:34:52.220 Yeah, man, long holds with deep breathing.

00:34:55.820 I'm talking one to two minute holds and deep breathing.

00:35:00.120 That's what makes stretching work anyway.

00:35:02.520 But yeah, or try Headspace, the Headspace app.

00:35:08.000 But I really encourage you to do the deep breathing with the stretching.

00:35:11.940 I think that is the most beneficial.

00:35:13.840 Learn some stretches.

00:35:15.440 Learn how to do them properly and do some deep breathing.

00:35:18.280 20 minutes of that, go back in bed and try it out.

00:35:21.120 I bet you, you won't have a problem.

00:35:24.280 Yeah, I'll give it a try.

00:35:25.460 Well, Ted, we're winding down on time.

00:35:26.700 This has gone really quick.

00:35:27.800 I think we kind of came at this backwards a little bit because there was one question

00:35:31.220 that I did want to ask you.

00:35:32.860 And I think I should have asked this first, but we can cap with this.

00:35:35.620 How do you know if you're getting optimal sleep?

00:35:38.840 How do you know if this, what you're getting now is normal or abnormal?

00:35:43.400 And how do you set that framework or that baseline for yourself?

00:35:46.560 Feeling good is the natural state of the human being, right?

00:35:50.780 It's the natural state of a human man.

00:35:54.460 So if you don't feel good when you wake up in the morning, if you need a pot of coffee

00:35:58.360 to get going, if you got to hit the snooze button three times, then you've got a problem.

00:36:03.460 And I'll tell you something a little bit more personal is if you don't get morning wood,

00:36:08.660 if you're not standing at attention more days than you're not.

00:36:12.440 And it's not because you and your wife, your girlfriend, or your girlfriends had a, you

00:36:17.840 know, a romp the night before, then there's a problem.

00:36:23.440 Interesting.

00:36:24.360 You're having an issue and you need to take care of it because that doesn't get better

00:36:29.040 on its own.

00:36:30.080 And that's what we need to do.

00:36:31.900 We need to take back control of our health.

00:36:34.400 Interesting.

00:36:34.980 Well, good.

00:36:35.320 That's good to know.

00:36:36.460 Well, Ted, like I said, this has been a great discussion.

00:36:38.600 Obviously, we're just skimming the surface.

00:36:39.920 I've listened to you talk about this, not only in this conversation, but other presentations

00:36:43.860 that you've given as well and things that you've done.

00:36:46.040 I want to wrap up with a couple of questions, one that you've already been asked, but I'd

00:36:49.620 like to ask again.

00:36:50.920 And that question is, what does it mean to be a man?

00:36:53.760 A man is someone who does what he needs to do.

00:36:59.880 For instance, in the context of our conversation, you don't make excuses about why you're not

00:37:06.520 feeling great.

00:37:07.160 You seek out, you take control of your life, you seek out the answers, and you find a solution,

00:37:13.660 and you stay persistent, and you don't give up.

00:37:15.800 And that goes for everything.

00:37:17.280 That's what men do. 0.72

00:37:18.680 We use the force of our will to create the world around us, to change the environment

00:37:24.560 around us, to change ourselves.

00:37:26.900 Excellent.

00:37:27.780 Well, Ted, how do we connect with you?

00:37:28.960 I know you've got some amazing things going on.

00:37:30.640 You've got some coaching and some things that you're doing these days.

00:37:33.000 I'd love to know a little bit more about that and how the guys listening can connect

00:37:35.880 with you.

00:37:36.200 Absolutely.

00:37:37.400 And it's been such a pleasure to connect with you again, Ryan.

00:37:40.420 I can't wait till we're hanging out again in person and sharing another meal.

00:37:46.080 If you want to handle your health and fitness, go to my podcast, legendarylifepodcast.com,

00:37:52.200 and start listening to the episodes.

00:37:54.080 Start applying what you hear most importantly.

00:37:55.980 I feel like I give some of the best, most useful information on the net, period.

00:38:03.140 But if you really want to have your health and fitness handled, if you want to follow

00:38:07.960 a professionally designed workout from a guy, me, who's been in the industry for 17 years,

00:38:13.680 who doesn't have great genetics and had to figure all this out on his own, if you want

00:38:18.100 to get that, your workouts, your nutrition, and your sleep handled, go to legendarylifepodcast.com

00:38:24.600 slash coaching and check out my coaching program.

00:38:27.740 I think you'll be really impressed with what we put together.

00:38:31.900 Awesome.

00:38:32.220 Yeah.

00:38:32.400 I know that's the case in what I've seen you do, Ted, and the work that you're doing

00:38:36.700 with your clients and the success you're seeing.

00:38:38.480 So I appreciate you.

00:38:39.880 I appreciate your time.

00:38:40.740 As always, super, super informative.

00:38:43.180 I know the guys that are listening to this are going to get a ton of value.

00:38:45.660 Thank you for sharing with us today, brother.

00:38:47.460 I appreciate it.

00:38:48.220 Thank you, Ryan.

00:38:49.040 Always a pleasure to connect, my man.

00:38:52.380 There you have it, man.

00:38:53.240 Mr. Ted Rice shares with us some key steps that you should be taking to optimize your sleep.

00:38:57.420 Make sure you check out the show notes at orderofman.com slash 071 for the links and resources

00:39:02.940 that we shared today during our conversation.

00:39:05.240 And in the meantime, make sure you check out our inaugural Order of Man Uprising, which again

00:39:09.680 is September 15th through the 18th, 2016.

00:39:12.480 This is going to sell out.

00:39:13.780 We're going to be bringing new instructors on daily and it's going to be an event, guys,

00:39:16.840 unlike any other.

00:39:18.380 So go to orderofman.com slash uprising for all of those details, including a new video that

00:39:22.840 I just put up.

00:39:23.660 Guys, I look forward to talking with you on Friday, but until then, take action and become

00:39:27.200 the man you were meant to be.

00:39:29.220 Thank you for listening to the Order of Man podcast.

00:39:32.180 You're ready to take charge of your life and be more of the man you were meant to be.

00:39:36.200 We invite you to join the order at orderofman.com.

Order of Man - July 26, 2016

OoM 071： Sleep Done Right with Ted Ryce

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