
It’s dark outside and it’s been raining all day, well it was when I started writing this blog! Welcome to Autumn and winter training. I have once again been meaning to write a blog for several months having not written anything all season. I’ll save writing about the triathlon side of things for another time as this blog brings you something to help you get up in the morning and a review of the Lumie Zest.
Have you heard of a Lumie lamp? I came across them earlier in the year and they have made my early morning starts more bearable! It is essentially an alarm clock that wakes you up with a light that gradually gets brighter and brighter therefore gently waking you up naturally.

Rather than the blaring alarm on my iPhone waking me up, the Lumie slowly wakes me up using light and a gradual sunrise. I was a little worried at first that the alarm wouldn’t go off, I always am when using a new or different alarm! Though I haven’t had any problems with it and I have stopped using the alarm on my phone as I much prefer to me woken up by the gradual light, as well as the alarm sound which you can also set. It is meant to wake you up in a better mood and leave you feeling refreshed ready for the day ahead.

The lights have been shown to improve energy levels, mood and therefore productivity and Lumie are the leaders in light therapy research. Lumie have lights designed to help with acne as well as seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and jetlag.
Many people struggle to get up in the morning, I would say I am definitely a morning person but it still is not always easy when I have alarms going off between 4.30-6AM everyday. People often struggle to get up if they have had a late night and therefore not got enough sleep, some people just don’t seem to sleep well, and some people don’t often see daylight due to their working hours or work environment. There can be any number of reasons that we don’t feel awake in the morning, struggle to get going and get tired later on. Often the reason we struggle to get up is due to our body clock becoming out of sync. This is often not helped by oversleeping and lie-ins at the weekend, even if this is what your body needs! Using light therapy you can reset those natural rhythms to help you feel more awake in the morning and feel ready for sleep when it’s time for bed.
How can light therapy help sport and maximise your performance?
Light therapy is easy to use, safe and drug-free!
Can speed the recovery from jet lag symptoms when competing overseas
Can give a boost in motivation and energy for training
Can improve mood and therefore prepare you mentally for key training sessions
Wakes you up feeling refreshed and ready to train
Over time can reset you internal rhythms and body clock to make waking up easier
I use the Lumie Zest light primarily for waking up and have found that I am often awake (although not always fully aware) a few minutes before the 'alarm' goes off and I’m therefore ready to get up. It’s helped me maintain a better sleeping pattern. The small compact nature of it means it always travels with me to my boyfriends, my parents, hotels before racing and abroad. Using it as a SAD lamp is very easy to do. I have used it to help with jetlag which can really upset your body clock and it definitely helped recently when travelling to the USA to compete. You can plug the light into your USB so it shines on your face as you work enhancing your alertness, make you feel more awake and put you in a better mood.
I use the Lumie Zest which retails at £125. They have a huge range of different lights to suit your individual needs and the website is full of useful information www.lumie.com. I quite like the sound of the ones with the wave sounds and aromatherapy!