Real Men Take Power NapsHealth

February 14, 2012 16:40
Real Men Take Power Naps

Napping has generally considered a bad habit; oftentimes when you think of a man taking an afternoon nap you automatically think of Dagwood curled up in his couch, but actually taking a power nap at least once every day can make you more energetic and productive at work.

Here are some of the more notable positive benefits you can get from snatching a few minutes of shut-eye:

Naps Increases Your Alertness

A study done by NASA has shown that pilots that took a 40 minute power nap (of course while their co-pilot has the controls!) are significantly more alert than those that were up the entire day. So if you take a quick nap right in the middle of your work day, you will be more alert and energetic in the second half of the day.

Naps Are More Effective Than Coffee

A 20-minute power nap can provide the same amount of energy as 500 mg of caffeine. So basically, taking a short cat nap is equivalent to drinking 5 cups of instant coffee; but napping does not have all the negative effects of coffee like stained teeth, jittery hyper energy and a palpitating heartbeat. So if you have to choose how to keep yourself charged up the entire day, wouldn't it be better to choose the method that carries fewer risks?

Naps Can Heighten Your Senses and Increase Your Productivity

Studies have shown that a good afternoon nap can actually sharpen your senses almost as much a full night's sleep; colors are more vibrant, smells and tastes are more intense, virtually everything seems to be a lot better after couple minutes' worth of sleep.

Naps Improve Creativity and Memory

Napping can help untangle all of the thoughts that have clogged up your mind, making it easier for you to make sense of things. Naps can also help free up a lot of valuable space in your mind so that you can remember all of the important things that you need.

Naps Can Help Reduce Stress and Improve Overall Health

When you deprive your body of sleep, your brain produces a hormone known as Cortisol. Cortisol is also called "the stress hormone"; it plays a vital role in the fight or flight reflex of human beings, but an excess of this hormone can cause a lot of health problems like weakening the immune system, decreasing the production of testosterone, and greatly decreasing a person's learning capacity and memory.

If you take a 30 minute power nap in the middle of the day it will induce your brain to produce growth hormones, which is the polar opposite of cortisol. Growth hormones improves your immune system, greatly reduces stress and anxiety levels, aids muscle repair, promotes weight loss, and also helps increase your sexual performance.

Taking a look at all these benefits of napping, it makes you wonder why napping has such a bad reputation. So the next time your boss catches you taking a midday siesta tell him that you are actually vastly improving your productivity... just try not to drool too much.

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