If you’re optimizing for improved sleep, cooler temperatures in your bedroom might be the move.

Today, I spent some time chatting with former Navy SEAL and current sleep expert, Kirk Parsley. His life’s mission is to change the way the world views sleeping. He submits that when we are sleep deprived, we are essentially drunk. Kirk was in a strong, general educating mode, but we narrowed our focus in this chat to room temperatures. He dropped knowledge about optimal temperatures to get into the tissue repairing, cognitive function boosting and performance enhancing state we all mine for. His estimation was between 63 and 68 degrees. Time magazine backs Kirk’s claim up:

…That’s a lot of bedroom science, but here’s the bottom line: keeping your head nice and cool is conducive to good sleep. To achieve that, set your thermostat somewhere around 65 degrees, research suggests. And layer up until you feel the Sandman creep closer.

This makes perfect sense to me. If I don’t need a blanket, it’s too damn hot to sleep for me. I don’t mean want a blanket, I mean need one. There’s nothing quite like pulling chilly covers over my shoulders and resting my head on a cool pillow. This is my lean, but there is (obviously) a subjective nature to this discussion.

While a dip in core temperature before bedtime flips on your brain and body’s “time for bed” switches and helps you fall asleep, Someren’s research shows that keeping your skin temperature “perfectly comfortable” is important when it comes to maintaining deep, restful slumber. Your level of “perfect comfort” is quite individual. But if you’re cold enough to be shivering, you’re not sleeping deeply

During spring training, I’m renting a condo in downtown Phoenix. The default setting on the thermostat is 75 degrees. I’ve been messing with it without much luck. I’m about to get serious and pull up online manuals. I have to practice what we preach. As we talk about often around here, supreme health and well-being is directly tied to hunting value at the margins. While sleeping in mildly warm room temperatures may seem innocuous, if our ultimate goals are to be stronger, faster, healthier and mentally tougher, we need to take the detailed action steps as well.

Strong mind,

Kap