Also Read: WHY YOU NEED TO STAY WELL HYDRATED?
Introduction
Just like with water intake, people don’t care about getting enough sleep. They instead focus on working out and getting enough protein to support muscle growth. However, if you neglect sleep, you will cripple your gains. To learn why, and to find out why sleep is important, read this short article.
Sleep Is Essential For Muscle Growth
Although you can’t build muscle without exercise, your muscles grow when you rest, not when you pump iron.
During workouts, your muscle tissue gets damaged. Then, when you rest, the body starts working on repairs, which leads to stronger and bigger muscles. That’s why it is essential to have proper training-rest balance, to avoid overtraining and injuries.
Sleep is essential for recovery. Yes, nutrition, stretching, and supplementation have their role, but failing to allow your body to recover will counter everything else you did right. 8 hours per night is optimal, do your best to sleep without interruptions.
Sleep Is Essential For Mental Performance And Well Being
You already know how a workday after a sleepless night feels. Drained, drowsy, demotivated, slow.
However, while insomnia can be crippling, over a longer period of time can be very harmful.
If you are chronically underslept (“I don’t need more than 5-6 hours”), it is possible that your “normal” state is actually much below your potential.
People who are not sleeping enough might develop learning issues, but also have trouble with problem-solving and decision making. Sleep deprivation is crippling not only for students but for ordinary working people too. You will feel less energized, and it will be harder for you to retain focus, which will show in your work performance.
Not Getting Enough Sleep Will Make You Fat
It turns out that sleep helps weight loss, just like water. With each hour of sleep less, the obesity risk rises, studies show. So although it seems like a good idea to sneak in a late-night workout instead of going to bed, this can actually have the opposite effect. Not only that sleep deficiency correlates with obesity, late night workouts negatively impact sleep quality too.
Before going to bed, have an unwind period. No gym, no food, no TV. Try not to drink too much water either, you don’t want to wake up in the middle of the night just to visit the restroom.
Conclusion
While you can’t actually sleep at FitAndPsyched, West Palm Beach, our gym is the best place to get proper, guided training. We have the best personal trainers and experts, ready to serve your fitness goals. We will give you the best advice on training, nutrition, and recovery, to make sure you are doing the necessary things on and off the gym, in order to reach your goals.
