Nick Littlheyl - man, because of which Ronaldo sleeping alone

Nick Littlheyla path to large professional career began in the late 1990s, when he wondered why even the most eminent sports community does not pay attention to the quality of sleep?

To begin, Nick decided to look at the big football world and got in touch with "local club", which turned out to be nothing less than a big-name "Manchester United", while under the leadership of Sir Alex Ferguson. That's what Nick said in an interview The Guardian during one of his visits to Sydney:

The crucial importance of sleep as a natural recovery process did not give me rest. It was strange to realize that only a fraction of people give the quality of the dream, with this part - ordinary people, not the athletes. The world's great change, technology and sports medicine came to the forefront.

For most of Nick starting point in his career was the coach is not a university bench, and personal experience and practice in the design, bedding production and sales and bedding: beds, mattresses, pillows.

Alex Ferguson has been the vision of coaching. He led the "Red Devils" like an experienced commander of a military unit, without ignoring any aspect of their lives - in the center of attention of Sir Alex had food, exercise and their role in the personal success of players. However, the system was not perfect and had its weak spot: worth wards Ferguson cross the threshold of the training base and sit down on their cars, as the coach lost control over them.

Not without the help of Sir Alex Littlheylu managed to convey the idea to the club's players to the extreme importance of healthy sleep and its impact on the profession as a whole. Success came when Nick started working with a central defender, "Manchester" Gary Pallister, suffer from constant back pain. Littlheyl found that the problem was "wrong" mattress, which significantly delayed the recovery of the injured players back.

Generally, to get rid of back pain we could not. However, some positive changes have been observed yet. And yet all in "United" have understood that I am not wasting my time. Up to this point it was thought that the players simply play better when sleep enough, but how to do it - no one thought. I had only to seriously address this issue and become a pioneer.

Nick Littlheyl

Soon Littlheyl participated in work on the layout of the rooms on the players in Carrington training base, which caused great interest in the then manager of the club "Arsenal" Arsene Wenger. Wenger vengeance poked fun at his colleague for coaching workshop, offering Littlheylu look to yoga and Pilates. Yet methods Littlheyla Wenger seemed curious.

British journalists were intrigued.

They have something heard somewhere that I teach players to sleep. This forced everyone to pay attention to other aspects of the lives of athletes.

Nick Littlheyl

After 16 years Nick has been a recognized expert in the field of sleep, he looked around the bedroom a critical look dozens of football superstars, working with the London "Chelsea" Madrid "Real" and the Olympic team England.

In preparation for the European Championships in 2004 The Football Association asked the Littlheylu for help: he was to visit all the places of rest of the national team players to check hotel rooms for compliance sleep quality. It was the first known history of a case where each room has been equipped with taking into account the specifics of the individual guest.

If you think about how much of your life time athletes spend on airplanes, buses and hotels, unwittingly catch yourself thinking: Specialist really need such a plan. Littlheylu always really important that the room for each member of the team was on the right floor in the right part of the hotel, had air conditioning that blows a stream of air required temperature in the required direction, and, of course, was right lighted.

According to Nick, the majority of luxury hotels designed so that you only think about the rest, and therefore, average bed in the room would be of such size that it quietly settles any person complexion. Of course, this option is not suitable professional athletes.

Littlheyla experience is truly impressive. The owner of encyclopedic knowledge about the structure of five-star hotels, it is ready to argue themselves hoarse with control of the need to modernize beds and replacement mattresses that for a good sleep should be tightly zadornut curtains and set the temperature to 16-18 degrees air conditioner. But the most important thing - it's all the same bed. In particular, complex cases, Nick was ready to drag in your own room or altogether abandon the services of a particular hotel.

For cyclists Team Team Sky's participation in the famous race "Tour de France" Littlheyl even constructed special equipment Sleep: Each participant was provided with a set of individual items and the recommendations that he had to follow religiously. Do drivers have a special frame, which they used to maintain the correct posture during sleep time beds or on the floor of their rooms - everything depended on the physiological characteristics of individual athlete. Each such frame could withstand the load of up to 150 kilograms.

So grueling competition as "Tour de France", exhausting clean athletes, including moral. That's why Nick had instructed a team of managers to implement the family of each of its members (!) Sets bed linen with a single purpose - to provide the necessary comfort and tranquility during rest at night. But that's not all: air conditioning in every room is equipped with an additional hypoallergenic filter, and all athletes used special nasal plasters, ensure proper breathing during sleep. Yes, in the big sports details can not be.

What about an eight-hour sleep norm? "Nonsense" - is responsible Nick Littlheyl.

No one has yet been able to stick to this rule in effect. Each of us needs a different amount of time to recover both physically and mentally. But for a professional athlete it is optimal sleep, consisting of five cycles of duration 90 minutes each throughout the day, with their strict sequence is not critical values.

Perhaps this is true, or what else can explain the appearance on the training bases of special rest rooms equipped with capsules for restorative sleep.

Long flights, frenzied schedules and need to be constantly in the public spotlight - all This leads to stress, forcing the athletes to resort to the "help" of all kinds of sedatives and techniques. "Athletes are crammed to the eyeballs stimulants. Sometimes they simply can not sleep on the very thought that the caffeine in training during the day ", - continues Nick.

Equally important are our habits. Each of us is "owl" or "bird", professional sportsmen are no exception - we inherit these settings, along with the parental genes. Nick believes that we need to know your type of daily activity - this will help to avoid falling into the intermediate risk group.

This is especially important for the top players and tennis players, most often they have to seriously laid out in the dark, when the pass game or competition. Someone born lucky owl - no problem, but someone changed the rhythm of life is given a hard time.

Nick Littlheyl

sports community concerns sleep problems is not accidental: the appearance and the ubiquity of smartphones and tablets, "gave" sports stars hitherto unavailable opportunity - to look for in a web material about themselves and their achievements for hours on end, rather than to gain strength in bed. In this "trap of glory" I was caught, for example, Australian tennis player nick kyrgios on one of Wimbledon.

Littlheyl believes that our idea of ​​the artificial light is breaking all records imaginable folly. For example, the glow emanating from the screens of mobile devices, not at all useful to the included "for background" on your TV bedroom: flashing vivid images, accompanied by sharp sounds and sudden outbursts, certainly will not work soothingly.

Also, before Littlheylom there is another serious problem: today the stars of sports watches Google their names and social networks endlessly scroll the tape in an effort to amuse vanity. 20 years ago the coaches and club management could somehow protect their players from unnecessary contacts with the media and television news viewing. Today, having at hand a mobile phone or tablet, you need to have a really strong will not to go on the Internet at any convenient (or not) the time.

The temptation to know that about you write and say is very large. The more that the athletes - the same people who like to write posts, and upload photos.

Nick Littlheyl

Littlheyl also mentions other red fame: even in the most secluded place athletes at increased attention. They always someone notices then suitable to be photographed or to communicate, wherever they go, and what would have been occupied either.

However, some gadget Nick nevertheless approves and even encourages. This Wake-up Light, or, as they are called, "an artificial dawn" - a device that allows you to create indoor lighting close to natural.

Ideally, such a "night light" to be used in combination with a tightly zadornutymi fresh air curtains and the proper temperature.

But love Littlheyla extends far not all modern devices. For example, game consoles, Nick is ready to declare war. Most young athletes have grown side by side with computers and constantly kept the sticks in their hands, so to spend half the night, or even a night game on the Net - almost the norm for everyone. But we know that at night to sleep.

Together, all these factors are relaxing, helping to relieve tension, which can not be avoided in professional sports. That's why athletes sit at the computer games when they can not sleep because of the excited consciousness.

That is why the Sleep Coach will not be attached to your sensor and heart rate monitor, does not ask to go strictly by the alarm signal is not present. He okinet room look and eliminate from your surroundings all the possible interference with normal, healthy sleep.

Littlheyl believes that it is not necessary to prohibit the athletes to have sex before important and decisive games. At the same time to go to bed, it recommends that separate from their partners.

Many elite clubs agree with this opinion. At the training base in Madrid "Real" access to their "sleeping capsule", each player receives individually. Thus, Cristiano Ronaldo always sleeps alone.

Littlheyl sure, happened to be at the training base of "Manchester", people will marvel at Spartan conditions lounges players. The modest interiors are created only for one simple reason: they are resting, and not having a good time.

For the players, sleeping together with their partners, take into account a variety of additional factors, ranging from the size of the bed partner sleep behavior (calm or anxious) to the position of the head relative to the wall and sleep window. At the same time convinced Littlheyl: between partners habits to sleep on the left, or, on the contrary, the right side and the quality of sleep, there is some correlation. There are really difficult situations: once Nick had to reflect on the placement of members of the family and team Roger Federer in two detached houses, which helped to prepare for the performance tennis player at Wimbledon properly way.

Surprisingly, with the words of Nick's many well-known personalities from the world of big-time sports and does not occur to think seriously about the situation in which they have to gather strength for new victories. Sometimes this can result in chronic pain and the appearance of symptoms of other more serious diseases.

You will not believe, but few people in the bedroom you can find a really proper bed.

Nick Littlheyl

Those who always wanted to lift the veil of secrecy over personal life favorite athlete, run the risk to be disappointed, just crossed the threshold of the hotel room superstar. There is exactly the same television, the same window and the view from it, such as an alarm clock and may be the same as your own mobile phone.