“If sleep does not serve an absolutely vital function, then it is the biggest mistake the evolutionary process has ever made." The importance of sleep for recovery is starting to be appreciated and research into the area is only increasing. But what do we really know about how to get ‘good sleep’? And how do sleeping patterns differ from country to country? Tero Myllymaki presented findings from the Firstbeat database showcasing the different sleep trends in the UK, Finland and Hungary whilst highlighting the importance of finding “what works for you” to help reduce stress and boost the chance overnight recovery.

2. LEARNINGS FROM SLEEP:
FIRSTBEAT BIG DATA
Tero Myllymäki
Head of Physiology Research, Firstbeat
Firstbeat HRV summit 2018

3. THE ULTIMATE FUNCTION OF SLEEP?
Schmidt MH (2014). The energy allocation function of sleep: A unifying theory of sleep, torpor, and continuous wakefulness.
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 47: 122-153

4. SIMPLIFIED VERSION
“If sleep does not serve an absolutely vital function,
then it is the biggest mistake the evolutionary
process has ever made”
Allan Rechtschaffen

5. HOW SLEEP RECOVERS
Sleep is body’s active and dynamic process to recover
Early night is dominated by deep sleep (protein synthesis, growth hormone secretion)
Latter part of the night is dominated by REM sleep (dreaming, processing information)
Physical recovery
Mental recovery
R
N1
N2
N3
AWAKE
LIGHT SLEEP
DEEP SLEEP
SNOOZING
PARTIALLY AWAKE, BODY MOVEMENTS
time

7. • Good sleep consists of adequate sleep duration and sleep quality 1,2
• Age-based recommendations for healthy sleep, e.g. 7-9 hours for adults
• Recommended quality metrics of sleep: sleeping enough, falling asleep
in 30min or less, waking up no more than once per night, having
efficient and continuous sleep
• Certain spectrum of sleep phases present: descriptive recommendations
exists, and first consensus statement of recommendations available 2
• ANS plays a key role in recovery and sleep as ANS reflects the
restoration of physiological systems and is associated also with sleep
stages and onset of sleep 3
• Firstbeat uses HRV to measure the physiological recovery during sleep
– the ultimate effect of sleep!
WHAT IS GOOD SLEEP
1 Hirskowitz et al. (2015). National Sleep Foundation’s sleep time duration recommendations: methodology and results summary. Sleep Health, 1 (1): 40-43.
2 Ohayon et al. (2017). National Sleep Foundation's sleep quality recommendations: first report. Sleep Health, 3 (1): 6-19.
3 Tobaldini et al. (2013). Heart rate variability in normal and pathological sleep, Frontiers in Physiology, 4: 4-11.
Recommended Amount of Sleep for a Healthy
Adult: A Joint Consensus Statement of the
American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep
Research Society 2015:
“Sleeping less than 7 hours per night on a
regular basis is associated with adverse
health outcomes, including:
• weight gain and obesity
• diabetes
• hypertension
• heart disease and stroke
• depression
• increased risk of death
• impaired immune function
• increased pain
• impaired performance
• increased errors
• and greater risk of accidents.”

8. THE PROCESS OF GATHERING BIG DATA
THROUGH PHYSIOLOGY BASED COACHING
LEARN FROM DATA
MAKE LIFESTYLE CHANGES
MEASURE
300,000 measured days from Nordics
30,000 measured days from the UK
4,000 measured days from Hungary
with Firstbeat Bodyguard 2 device

10. FACILITATORS OF
GOOD SLEEP:
WHAT THE BIG
DATA TELLS?

11. FACILITATORS OF GOOD SLEEP
AVOIDING ALCOHOL
Recovery
minutes
during
sleep
Doses of alcohol *
* In relation to person weighting 80kg

12. Pietilä et al. 2018. Acute effect of alcohol intake on cardiovascular autonomic regulation during the first
hours of sleep in a large real-world sample of Finnish employees. JMIR Mental Health
= without alcohol
= low-dose group (≤0.25g/kg)
= medium-dose group (>0.25-0.75g/kg)
= high-dose group (>0.75g/kg) +
Original data included
111,025 monitoring days
from Firstbeat database

13. FACILITATORS OF GOOD SLEEP
SLEEPING ENOUGH
Recovery minutes
By sleeping shortly
it’s impossible to
give body enough
time to recover

14. FACILITATORS OF GOOD SLEEP
KEEPING FIT AND STAYING ACTIVE

15. FACILITATORS OF GOOD SLEEP
FINDING PERSONAL WAYS TO CALM DOWN
Deep breathing exercise
Relax w/ ”mindless” TV after work
Meditation helps
you slow down!
Day-off:
afternoon
nap 30 mins
Tea & talk w/ girlfriend

16. ACTIVITIES WHICH TYPICALLY STRESS
Being in a work meeting
Being on a computer
Eating
Watching TV
Driving a car
ACTIVITIES WHICH TYPICALLY RELAX
Night’s sleep
Taking a nap
Reading
Relaxation session
Watching TV
Work meetings elicit
stress response in
76% of their time
Naps are half as good
in recovering us than
night’s sleep

17. RHYTHMS OF
RECOVERY IN THE
NORDICS, UK
AND HUNGARY

18. HOURLY RHYTHMS OF RECOVERY

19. DAILY RHYTHMS OF RECOVERY
h

20. YEAR-ROUND RHYTHMS OF RECOVERY
UK Nordics

21. SATISFACTION ON SLEEP
Hungary 41%
UK 47%
Nordics 51%
Proportion of persons
who partly or fully
agrees to sleep enough

22. RYTHMS OF MEN AND WOMEN
PERCEIVED STRESS IN UK
MEN WOMEN
”I feel stressed”

23. MEN WOMEN
RYTHMS OF MEN AND WOMEN
SLEEP DURATION IN UK

24. RYTHMS OF MEN AND WOMEN
RECOVERY DURING SLEEP IN UK

25. THANK YOU!
Tero Myllymäki
tero.myllymaki@firstbeat.com
www.firstbeat.com
#firstbeat
Firstbeat Technologies Firstbeat Technologies Ltd@FirstbeatInfo @firstbeat_technologies