The importance of sleep cannot be understated, as it helps the body rebuild and recover. However, people who work out have to be especially careful with their sleep, since it directly affects their gains and performance. When paired with proper nutrition and hydration, sleep can improve muscle growth, performance, and tissue repair.
The Importance of Sleep: How much should you get?
When considering the importance of sleep, the next thing that comes to people’s minds is just how much. How much sleep should you get for it to be healthy? According to guidelines by the National Sleep Foundation, adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep every day. Without recommended sleep, people will not function effectively.
Fitness enthusiasts should especially get at least eight hours of sleep, enough for the body to recover. Muscle tears during a workout only repair if the individual gets enough sleep. Apart from tissue repair, the importance of sleep directly affects other parts of an individual’s body.
Can Contribute to Weight Gain
One of the most important things is that sleep in your body regulates a very important hormone, which affects other hormones. Sleep regulates the steroid hormone cortisol, better known as the stress hormone.
Lack of sleep creates a domino effect where it first disturbs the body’s circadian rhythm. This affects cortisol levels, which affects insulin resistance, glucose processing, and appetite hormones.
By simply getting enough sleep, you can greatly reduce the risk of weight gain and reduce your net body weight. Keeping weight gain and body weight low, you can continue keep your progress.
Greater Risk of Injury
Not getting enough sleep leaves people in a sleep-deprived state, leading to very serious injury. The importance of sleep is especially apparent when you are trying to work out without properly resting.
Your body has not recovered from the fatigue of yesterday’s training, which increases the chance of injury. Pushing yourself too hard despite not sleeping properly could lead to you tearing a muscle or spraining your back.
Do not “power through” a workout when you’re tired. Instead, you should settle for fewer sets or take a nap before exercising.
Muscle Repair and Recovery
Finally, the biggest advantage of getting enough sleep for a fitness enthusiast is that it helps muscle recovery. NREM, or non-rapid eye movement, is a sleep pattern where the body finally starts to rest. Throughout its four stages, it helps the body recover.
Stages three and four are especially important as they are responsible for producing HGH. HGH is a hormone that contributes to muscle growth and development.
The Importance of Sleep: Planning Your Day around It
People usually put sleep at the last of their priorities, often compromising on sleep to work on other things. However, now that you better understand the importance of sleep, you should plan your entire day around getting ample sleep.
Always set aside eight hours to sleep and the rest to work to ensure better muscle growth.
