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Why do we spend thousands on workouts and supplements, but treat sleep like an afterthought, and how is it hurting our performance?

I talk with Jill MacRae and Lori Oliver, co-founders of The Inactive Company, a sleep performance business focused on developing products and technology. They brought complementary expertise from companies like SPANX, Starbucks, and Coca-Cola to solve the sleep epidemic. We discuss how they moved past their own sleep struggles—Jill with staying asleep, Lori with falling asleep in a constant state of high cortisol. They created a sleep mask using patent-pending technology that achieves complete blackout, regulates temperature, and includes eye pockets to integrate science into a functional product. They emphasize that sleep is the only human performance factor you cannot replace and explain how consistency and daily routine shifts fix sleep.

Key Takeaways

● Jill MacRae struggled with staying asleep as she got older, and she realized training herself to sleep better improved her health, focus, and performance; she even developed pneumonia because she wasn't sleeping well.

● Lori Oliver struggled with falling asleep because she "lived in cortisol world" while managing large teams and traveling internationally, meaning her brain was constantly trying to solve problems and could not wind down.

● Complete blackout is the number one factor important to signal the brain and body to produce melatonin naturally.

● Creating a Pavlovian response by making the bed a "sacred space" (only for sleeping and sex, not working or watching TV) helps the body recognize that it is time to turn off when you enter the room.

● Consistency is the key to adopting good sleep habits, whether that means a consistent bedtime, wake time, or nap time.

● If you wake up in the middle of the night, Jill advises a "reset": get up, drink water, use the restroom, and then lay back down to break the cycle of swirling thoughts.

● Lori advises using breathing techniques (two inhales, one big mouth open exhale) while in bed to reset cortisol levels and calm the brain.

● Strenuous exercise should be avoided two hours before bedtime, but light movement like walking after dinner helps digestion and limits blood sugar spikes that can wake people up.

Resources

● Website: https://inactiveco.com

● Instagram: @the_inactive_co https://www.instagram.com/the_inactive_co

● LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-inactive-company

Nate Palmer:

The founder of The Million Dollar Body and author of "The Million Dollar Body Method", Nate has been coaching for over 15 years and has worked personally with over 1,000 clients.

● Website: https://milliondollarbodylabs.com/

● Book: The Million Dollar Body Method

● Lean Energy Stack: https://milliondollarbodylabs.com/pages/lean

● Instagram: @_milliondollarbody