We were all there once; young and in our prime hitting the clubs every night at the weekend, doing the walk of shame back home at 5 o’clock in the morning.

But sleep is important and without it our health can suffer so here are some top tips to still get shut-eye and keep up to speed with the bar scene.

How to sleep after clubbing

– If you know you have a long weekend of partying ahead aim to have at least four hours sleep at the same time every night/morning. This seems to help keep your sleep clock regular.

– As most clubs don’t even begin to get going until well past midnight, try a couple of hours of pre-club snoozing before hitting the town.  You’ll feel more alert and ready to party but allow at least 20 minutes after waking up before you do anything; it takes that long for the brain to wake up.

– After a heavy weekend, you can use the early part of the week to get in some extra “recovery” sleep to catch up on what they have lost out on over the weekend.

– You can also “store up” extra sleep before a weekend of serious clubbing.  By getting some extra snooze over the couple of nights prior to your big night out, your body will be slightly more resilient to any sleep deprivation.

– A good bed really does make a difference to how well you sleep.  Get yourself a bed that’s the business for post club crash-outs and make sure the Odd size mattress is quality to help you drift off when you hit the pillow.

– Alcohol may allow you to go to sleep if it relaxes you but it’s seriously unhelpful to a good night’s kip. You don’t breathe as well and the sleep is more broken because your brain reacts against being unconscious. Coffee, tea and chocolate all contain caffeine and related chemicals which promote wakefulness.

– Remember that recreational drugs can seriously affect the quality of your sleep.  You may experience “speed sleep” – a restless and sweaty, post-club kip which may lead to vivid dreams and nightmares.

– Don’t forget water! When you’re feeling wrecked, just plain water can be an energy source.  Dehydration caused by dancing and drinking causes a loss in efficiency because the body has to work harder to cool itself, burning glycogen stores in the process.

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