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8 hours of sleep is a lie

#163 | Good Sleep: What is it & How to get it | Merijn van de Laar (“Sleep Like a Caveman”)

Today’s episode is not for those few, lucky souls who fall asleep the moment their head hits the pillow, cruise through the night, and bounce out of bed in the morning ready to take on the world. Good for you—but seriously, get out of here. This one’s for the rest of us.

For the normal wise athlete who works hard to be fit and healthy—through exercise, through diet—only to be undone by poor sleep. The kind of sleep that slows your recovery, ramps up your risk of illness, and leaves you reaching for caffeine just to survive the day, and then something else entirely just to shut down at night and squeeze 7-9 hours into the 6-hour window we allow for.

You and I? We’ve heard it all before. The endless sleep hygiene tips. The smug sleep score flexers. We’ve tried the chemicals, the vagus nerve toys, the off-label hacks—none of which have ever worked well enough for me.

So today, I’m talking with Dr. Merijn van de Laar—a man who says we’ve been sold a bunch of BS about sleep. This isn’t about chasing perfection. This is about letting go of the pressure and learning what’s actually real. It’s about how to ease into realistically healthy sleep—the kind your ancestors would recognize—without needing to track every blink and breath.

So unplug, lie back, and listen up—because it’s time to learn how to Sleep Like a Caveman.

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