LeBron James: Good night's sleep is secret to recovery

Despite state-of-the-art facilities, the best modern science has to offer, and training and support staff committed to keeping him healthy, it turns out James’ secret to keeping his 33-year-old body in peak form is quite simple and available to anyone: a good night’s sleep.

James and his trainer, Mike Mancias, recently joined Tim Ferriss on his podcast and addressed how rest, specifically the right kind, is crucial to James’ impressive recovery ability.

Eight to nine hours of sleep are evidently what Mancias wants James to get on nightly basis.

“The body does recover, and it heals itself while we’re asleep, while we reach our REM sleep and our deep sleep,” Mancias said, via Business Insider.

Creating an optimal situation conducive to good rest is imperative, Mancias says, including a 68- to 70-degree temperature, a completely dark room and an environment free of electronics.

“That’s the best way for your body to physically and emotionally be able to recover and get back to 100 percent as possible,” James acknowledged.

James admitted that simply getting a good night’s sleep is not a magical cure-all for recovery. It certainly gets him on the right track to do so, though.

“I just think that’s just the best way to recover,” James said. “I mean, I can do all the training, I can do all the ice bags and the NormaTecs and everything that we do that we have as far as our recovery package while I’m up, but when you get that good sleep, you just wake up and you feel fresh. You don’t need no alarm clock. You just feel like, ‘OK, I can tackle this day at the highest level.'”

Now that’s a common-sense approach to improved health anyone can utilize.