TORONTO — If you’re more interested in naps than reps — and tired of all the #fitspo filling your feeds — you might appreciate the video, “If People Treated Sleeping Like a Workout” from Australian sketch comedy group Collective Noun.
The guys tackle all the clichés you might hear from hardcore workout fanatics and turn them into funny little quips like this:
“Check out how tired this guy looks. Do you even nap, bro?”
“I’ve been following this new Instagram account with all these sleeping positions: side, back, pillow between your legs. Such good inspo, hey?”
One of the comedians, 22-year-old Dom Fay, told news.com.au the group thought it was time to encourage people to get serious about something more serious than working out.
“If there’s one thing everyone can agree on it’s that we all sleep. Working out is hard, sleep isn’t. You don’t need any protein powder or to go on any fitness regimen to get a good eight hours.”
The guys have a point. A lack of sleep doesn’t just leave you tired and groggy the next day. It tampers with your body’s circadian rhythm, brain function, memory and processing speed.
A new World Health Organization study warns that poor sleep could actually be a risk factor for heart disease, just like smoking and a lack of exercise is.
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Shift work, when people work odd hours or an irregular schedule that toys with a routine sleeping schedule, has also been linked to heart disease, cancer and mental health issues.
Other research has suggested that those who sleep for less than six hours a night are twice as likely to have a stroke or heart attack as their peers who get six to eight hours of rest per night.
READ MORE: Interrupted sleep just as bad for you as no sleep at all, says study
Statistics Canada research has found the following facts about our sleeping habits:
- Men sleep less than women, on average
- More Canadian women than men report problems falling or staying asleep
- Men who work full-time sleep 14 minutes less than women who work full-time
- Canadians with a personal income of $60,000 or more sleep less
- Married Canadians (including common-law) sleep less than the unmarried
- The more children you have, the less sleep you get
With files from Carmen Chai, Global News
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