Why you still wake up tired after eight hours of sleep
You sleep enough hours, but not deeply enough. Read why your deep sleep declines over the years, what that does to your energy, your mood and your appearance, and how ANDUFIT, a massage module under your mattress, helps you sleep more deeply.
Eight hours in bed, and still tired
The alarm goes off and it feels as if you have only just fallen asleep. You got your hours, maybe even more than you used to. Still, you struggle to get going. You can see it in the mirror too: bags under your eyes, dull skin, a face that looks older than you feel. And by midday your energy is already dipping.
Many people think they simply sleep too little. They go to bed earlier, buy a new mattress or try melatonin. But for most of them the problem is not the number of hours. It is how deep those hours are.
You don’t sleep less, you sleep more lightly
less deep sleep in men between their twenties and fifties. In 16 to 25-year-olds, 19% of their sleep time was deep sleep; in 36 to 50-year-olds, only 3%. The rest became lighter sleep. Van Cauter et al., JAMA, 2000
In women, this decline is slower. On average they sleep more deeply than men, but they more often have restless nights: finding it harder to fall asleep and waking more often, especially around the menopause.
Deep sleep is the phase in which your body truly recovers. That is when it produces the hormones that repair muscles, skin and tissue. If your sleep is lighter or more restless, you spend just as long in bed, but a smaller part of the night actually works for you.
The tricky part: you don’t notice it while it happens. You don’t necessarily wake up more often. You simply sleep less deeply, and you only feel it the next morning.
What too little deep sleep does to you
A lack of deep sleep doesn’t show at night, but during the day. It creeps in, which is why many people put it down to stress, busy days or simply getting older.
Tired, even after a full night energy
Without enough deep sleep, your body doesn’t recover properly. You wake up without energy, and by midday you are already flagging.
Worse mood, less focus mood
After a restless night you are quicker to get irritated and less positive. Deep sleep also helps your brain process the day and clear out waste. Too little of it shows in your concentration, your memory and your productivity.
You look older than you are appearance
Deep sleep is your body’s overnight maintenance, including for your skin. If you sleep badly, it shows in bags under your eyes, a dull complexion and fine lines.
Slower recovery body
In deep sleep your body produces the hormones that repair muscles, skin and tissue. Less deep sleep means less recovery after a busy day or after exercise.
The good news: deep sleep is not fixed. How relaxed you are when the night begins makes a big difference.
What happens at night
The deepest sleep comes mainly in the first hours of the night. So how you go into those first hours matters a lot. For men and women alike, tension and restlessness are the biggest obstacles.
Your head and body are still switched on. After a busy day your nervous system stays on alert. Your heart rate drops more slowly, your muscles stay tense.
You fall asleep, but only lightly. If you lie down tense, you stay longer in light sleep. It is precisely the first deep phase, the one that brings the most recovery, that gets shorter.
You wake up without having recovered. You slept for hours, but not deeply enough. That is why you feel tired, even after eight hours.
A night in your sleep
From lying down to the alarm
Switch between an ordinary night and a night with the ANDUFIT massage module.
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You lie down Your mind is still going over the day, your shoulders and back are tense.
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Finally asleep You fall asleep, but stay in light sleep for a long time.
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Restless You wake up briefly, and it takes a while before you drift off again.
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The alarm goes off, you’re tired Enough hours in bed, but too little deep sleep to really recover.
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Programme 19, Falling asleep You switch on the programme on the massage module under your mattress. Gentle, low-frequency Andullation® vibrations relax your whole body.
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Programme 18, Sleeping through Your muscles let go, your breathing slows and you drift off without the tension of the day.
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Your first deep sleep Relaxed, you slip more easily into the first deep phase of the night.
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You wake up rested The same hours in bed, but a night that works better for you. You feel it, and you see it in the mirror.
So the difference isn’t how long you sleep, but how deeply.
What most people have already tried
If you wake up tired, you have probably already tried a few things. None of them are wrong. They just rarely tackle what stands in the way of deep sleep: the tension you take to bed.
Supplements mixed results
Melatonin, magnesium, valerian, chamomile or CBD: many people try them. Melatonin mainly helps with a shifted rhythm; the others are meant to help you relax. The effect varies a lot from person to person, and they don’t automatically make your sleep deeper.
A fixed bedtime routine still the basis
Going to bed on time, fewer screens, a cool room. All sensible, but it doesn’t take the tension out of your body.
A new mattress expensive and uncertain
Worth it if your old mattress is really worn out. But even on the best mattress you lie down tense after a busy day.
Sleeping pills not for every night
They help you fall asleep, but are meant for short periods and on your doctor’s advice. That is why many people look for something for every evening.
What research says about gentle vibrations and sleep
Researchers in Seoul wanted to know whether gentle vibrations in the bed could improve the sleep of poor sleepers. 27 people slept two nights in a sleep lab: one night with barely noticeable vibrations synchronised with their heartbeat, and one night without. They did not know which night was which.
Participants spent less time awake and rated their sleep as better. The researchers saw the calming part of the nervous system become more active, the part that lowers your heart rate and lets your body recover.
The solution
Upgrade your bed with massage, for a deep sleep
Gentle, rhythmic vibrations in bed, at the moment you lie down: you will find that principle in ANDUFIT, a massage module with 20 programmes that you slide under your mattress or topper.
Fits under mattress or topper
Only 7 cm high
How it works
Gentle, low-frequency Andullation® vibrations travel through the mattress via seven motors to five body zones, from the shoulders to the calves. They help your muscles relax and bring your body to rest. The same technology is also used in physiotherapy.
What users notice themselves
Andullation® was developed in Germany together with universities, and is also used in physiotherapy. ANDUFIT asked its own users what they notice about their sleep after regular use.
What users report
Self-reported experiences of ANDUFIT users, without a control group. ANDUFIT is not a medical device and does not promise a cure. If sleep problems persist, please consult your doctor.
“I used to wake up several times a night. Now I sleep through until the alarm, hard to believe.”
“My mind was constantly running at full speed. After twenty minutes I’m simply calm and fall asleep.”
Together in bed, each with your own massage
Share your bed? Then each of you has your own module, each with 20 programmes. You choose Falling asleep, your partner something completely different.
Two modules side by side, each with 20 programmes.
Programme 19, Falling asleep, 15 minutes. Your body relaxes and you fall asleep without the tension of the day.
Programme 18, Sleeping through. You stay relaxed, for a calmer night.
Curious what ANDUFIT can do for you? Try it for 14 nights in your own bed
You don’t have to take our word for it. Put ANDUFIT under your own mattress and use it for two weeks the way you would use it every evening afterwards. Pay particular attention to how you feel in the morning, and how you look.
- Night 1 You choose programme 19 and the intensity that feels right.
- Week 1 Drifting off with ANDUFIT becomes a fixed moment of your evening.
- Night 14 You decide. If you notice no difference, send it back free of charge and get a full refund.
- Free delivery in 2 to 3 working days, free returns
- Pay in instalments
Sources
- Van Cauter E, Leproult R, Plat L. Age-related changes in slow wave sleep and REM sleep and relationship with growth hormone and cortisol levels in healthy men. JAMA, 2000;284(7):861-868. Source for the decline of deep sleep in men and its link with recovery hormones.
- Redline S e.a. The effects of age, sex, ethnicity, and sleep-disordered breathing on sleep architecture. Archives of Internal Medicine, 2004;164(4):406-418. Source for the differences in deep sleep between men and women.
- Xie L e.a. Sleep drives metabolite clearance from the adult brain. Science, 2013;342(6156):373-377. Source for the clearance of waste from the brain during sleep.
- Kwon HB e.a. Effect of closed-loop vibration stimulation on sleep quality for poor sleepers. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2024;18:1456237. PMID 39435444. Source for the results of vibration stimulation.
- ANDUFIT, survey of its own users. Self-reported, without a control group. Source for 82%, 79% and 60%.
This article is an advertorial by ANDUFIT. ANDUFIT is not a medical device and does not replace medical advice. Results vary from person to person.