{"id":23869,"date":"2021-08-20T16:43:04","date_gmt":"2021-08-20T15:43:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dreams.co.uk\/sleep-matters-club\/?p=23869"},"modified":"2024-09-26T15:08:43","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T14:08:43","slug":"champion-sleep-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dreams.co.uk\/sleep-matters-club\/champion-sleep-advice","title":{"rendered":"Champion Sleep Advice: Tips From Paralympians"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this article, the new golden couple of cycling reveals some of the sleeping tips that have aided their incredible sporting accomplishments! Husband and wife Neil Fachie MBE and Lora Fachie MBE each won gold at the Tokyo Paralympics.<\/p>\n

The advice from the couple \u2013 who both have visual impairments \u2013 covers topics including the pervasive influence of video games, using public transport as a means of falling asleep, and how the soothing sound of Sir David Attenborough\u2019s voice helped them through to success in the previous Rio games.<\/p>\n

Neil and Lora let us in on some of their top sleep tips…<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Neil Fachie<\/strong>: I vividly remember my first games in Beijing. I was visiting the ParalympicsGB house to see my family and out in the hallway were several Chinese businessmen all lined up on a sofa, in various positions and poses \u2013 sleeping after lunchtime. How they weren\u2019t all lying on each other I\u2019ll never know, but it was just very normal for them to take this little power nap. I just thought: \u2018that looks absolutely wonderful\u2019 and it\u2019s something I\u2019ve taken with me ever since.<\/p>\n

Speaking of power naps, I often have a post-lunch, early afternoon lull when I\u2019m not of much use. That\u2019s the ideal time for having what I call a \u2018Nappuccino<\/a>\u2019. This is a little coffee followed by a 20-minute power nap. One of these, and you\u2019re good to go! I don\u2019t do it often, but whenever I do, I feel great for it.<\/div>\n

Lora Fachie<\/strong>: Before Covid-19, if I was training at the velodrome in the morning, I\u2019d use public transport and I\u2019d get the tram home. The tram journey is about 45 minutes with one change. Many times, I\u2019d zone-out on the longer tram journey and be sat there half sleeping, half not! Just that lull of being on public transport always sends me to sleep.<\/p>\n

\"Neil<\/p>\n

Neil Fachie<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s funny you should say that. The amount of times I\u2019ve fallen asleep on the tram \u2013 it\u2019s ridiculous. I guess it\u2019s like the baby getting put in the car to go to sleep. It\u2019s funny, the nice soothing noises of a tram journey!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Do you follow the traditional 8 hours, or do you practise something alternative?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Lora Fachie<\/strong>: I\u2019ve worked quite a lot with different methods of how to get myself to sleep because for me, falling asleep is the hardest thing, it\u2019s probably one of my weaknesses as an athlete. I can only sleep in around three, maximum four hours \u2013 then I\u2019ll wake up. It might then take me an hour or two or three hours to then get back to sleep again during the night.<\/p>\n

So now I use an app or listen to a podcast that sends me to sleep almost immediately. At the moment, I\u2019m in quite a good routine, but it\u2019s not always been that way. It\u2019s something \u2013 especially with jetlag \u2013 that I\u2019m quite concerned about going in to Tokyo. I don\u2019t generally cope well with clock changes, I have my routine and that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Neil Fachie:<\/strong> Like Lora, I sometimes use things like listening to audiobooks with sleep headphones on that are comfortable in bed just to get me to sleep. Especially around competition times when you\u2019re feeling a bit more stressed generally. It\u2019s harder to fall asleep so you\u2019ve got to use a few tricks and tools to help shut off the brain which wants to keep jabbering away all the time.<\/p>\n

Did late-night video games ever affect your sleep<\/strong>?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Neil Fachie:<\/strong> Before I met Lora, I was a stay-up-late-playing-computer-games kind of person. I didn\u2019t really have a set routine and it wasn\u2019t really ideal for performance. I got told off pretty quickly once Lora and I got together! I was told I had to be going to bed at 10 and, fair enough, I went along with it to keep her happy. It did start to pay off actually and I started to feel much better for getting my 8 hours of sleep.<\/p>\n

When I was quite addicted to games, a lot of my dreams were about the games in my head. I think that\u2019s when you know you\u2019ve gone too far, when you start dreaming about Call of Duty and other games and it becomes really vivid. That\u2019s when it\u2019s time to call it a day and take a step back I think.<\/p>\n

\"Lora<\/p>\n

Do you have any podcasts or audiobook or podcast recommendations that you use to help you sleep<\/strong>? <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Lora Fachie<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

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All the way through Rio I was listening to Sir David Attenborough\u2019s memoirs because his voice is absolutely amazing for lulling you to sleep. I don\u2019t know how many times I listened to his book.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Other books that have been really good like that are anything read by Stephen Fry. He\u2019s got a voice that\u2019s very melodic and you can just zone-out to. Recently, I\u2019ve discovered a podcast called \u2018Send Me to Sleep\u2019 on Spotify, that\u2019s really good. It\u2019s just these short 45-minute stories that it doesn\u2019t actually matter if you pay attention to.
\nIf you do listen to one that\u2019s quite emotional, you get emotionally attached to it. You\u2019ll be listening and when something big happens, you\u2019ll get quite tense with the story. That\u2019s not really going to help you get to sleep as you\u2019re too emotionally caught up.<\/p>\n

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Neil Fachie<\/strong>: David Attenborough was my recommendation as well. Yes, David\u2019s been our saviour for many a tough night at a Games village! I was genuinely listening to the book and I kept nodding off on the tram while I was listening to it, when Lora was struggling to sleep. It\u2019s just that perfect voice to send you away. I\u2019ve always got that book saved on my phone for when I\u2019m away.<\/p>\n

Recently I\u2019ve been listening to the Lord of the Rings trilogy as well. It\u2019s a story I know, and you don\u2019t need to tune in too hard. It\u2019s just something in the background that works for me as well.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Watch the highlights of Lora and Neil’s exclusive interview below:<\/strong><\/p>\n