Summary

LeBron James prioritizes sleep as a key component of his fitness regimen, emphasizing its importance for recovery and overall health, especially as he approaches age 40.

Abstract

The article discusses the significance of sleep in maintaining fitness and health, as exemplified by basketball star LeBron James. It highlights how James uses meditation apps like Calm to improve his sleep and how his dedication to adequate rest is a crucial part of his fitness routine. The piece underscores that while diet and exercise are commonly emphasized in health discussions, sleep is often overlooked despite its critical role in physical and mental well-being. The author supports this view with research on the negative effects of poor sleep and personal anecdotes about the impact of sleep on mood and decision-making. James's approach to sleep as a professional athlete is presented as a model for others, suggesting that prioritizing sleep can lead to better health outcomes and improved daily performance.

Opinions

The author believes that sleep is an underrated aspect of fitness and health, despite its significant impact on both physical and mental well-being.
LeBron James is portrayed as a pioneer in recognizing the importance of sleep, setting an example for others by integrating sleep into his health and fitness strategy.
The author suggests that sacrificing sleep for other activities is detrimental and that prioritizing sleep can enhance one's quality of life and fitness goals.
The article implies that as people age, the importance of sleep increases, and it should be managed with the same diligence as diet and exercise.
The author shares a personal perspective on the benefits of quitting alcohol and attempting to quit caffeine, linking these choices to a desire for better sleep and overall health.
The author encourages readers to follow LeBron James's lead by making sleep a priority, proposing that this change can lead to feeling more energetic and capable in daily life.

Why LeBron James values this 1 health habit above all to stay fit at 40

A year or two back, I decided to try the Calm meditation app.

I was surprised one day to see a familiar name and voice pop into the feed, delivering some of the latest sleep and mindset meditations.

On the one hand, it’s not exactly the platform you’d expect to see one of history’s greatest basketball players on.

On the other, I probably shouldn’t have been all that surprised.

It’s possible that LeBron James is also the world’s most famous sleep enthusiast.

All-Pro Reels, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Diet and exercise only go so far

When people talk about fitness, they typically hone in exclusively on diet and exercise.

Do these exercises, do or don’t eat these types of food, that sort of thing.

But few people talk about what may be an even more important factor in overall health: sleep.

Studies have shown that sleep is crucial to your major physiological functioning and that poor sleep has powerful and wide-ranging negative effects on your physical and mental health.

Honestly, there are almost too many to list, but if you’re interested in digging deeper, you can check out this article that outlines 11 problems caused by sleep disruption (just for starters).

But I think you know intrinsically that lousy sleep is massively detrimental.

When you don’t get it, you simply feel like s**t.

One of the biggest reasons I quit alcohol at age 41 was that I was dead tired of always being tired.

It’s the same reason I’m constantly trying to quit caffeine, too.

Nothing beats a good night’s sleep to keep your mood upbeat and stable.

Despite knowing that a bad night’s sleep can easily veto all the good decisions you’re making in other areas, however, we often don’t give enough care or attention to ensuring we get enough.

Rather than prioritizing it, it’s often the first thing we sacrifice to watch more TV, do more work, or whatever it is we’re up to at night.

The problem is that if you have a bad sleep, it cascades throughout every other aspect of your life.

When I struggle through a bad night, my nutritional choices turn into a complete dumpster fire (and there’s no way in hell I’m getting to the gym).

But after a glorious 8 hours? Anything feels possible.

This is especially true from a fitness perspective.

Just ask Lebron.

The LeBron James/Calm collab was a natural progression — the basketball star used the app’s “rain on leaves” sounds to fall asleep every night before they ever joined forces. (Credit: Calm public web site)

Sleep well, age slower

As a former professional sports journalist, I know just how meticulously teams manage their players’ nutrition and exercise routines.

More and more, however, teams are hiring experts to work with their players on sleep schedules and strategies.

In many ways, LeBron James was ahead of the game on this.

His sleep obsession entered public lore back in 2018 when he and his trainer told the Tim Ferriss podcast about the lengths they’d go to to ensure the basketball star was getting enough shuteye.

“That’s the best way for your body to physically and emotionally be able to recover and get back to 100 percent as possible,” he said at the time.

“Now, will you wake up and feel 100 percent? There are some days you don’t. So some days you feel better than others. But the more, and more, and more time that you get those eight — if you can get nine, that’s amazing.”

Not much has changed since then.

In fact, sleep is even more important to him than ever as he approaches age 40 (James is 38 today).

Here’s what he said recently when asked how his approach to health and fitness has changed since he was young:

“At 18 and 20, you’re just doing it off just straight-up energy and just straight skill.

“You’re just like, ‘Imma just go out here and just play free and just jump all over the place. I know I’m more athletic than everybody, I know I’m faster than everybody, and whatever happens, let’s go out and just play free.’

“Well at 38, for me, it’s mental.

“It’s how much rest I can get from day to day and get my optimal sleep and make sure I get the right food in me?”

“I don’t think at 18 you had to worry about getting eight or nine hours of sleep at night. You didn’t have to worry about making sure that you was doing everything that you needed to do to be ready.”

You don’t need to be a pro athlete to heed his words.

By making your sleep your №1 priority — whether that be via schedule, routines, environment, etc. — rather than your least important afterthought, you’ll be supercharging the excellent diet and fitness choices you’re making.

The end result? You’ll look fitter and younger.

But more importantly, your mood and mental resiliency will be 10x better.

Friends, thanks so much for reading this post all the way to the end! If you enjoyed it or found it inspiring, please give it a clap or two so others can find it!

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