Sleep is Essential for Recovery
I have decided to dedicate this blog entry to highlighting the importance of sleep not just as a means of achieving better hypertrophy (better strength gains and muscle size/reduction of fat over time) but because I think that sleep is a very much underrated factor of recovery. Remember, sleep and nutrition are part of the fitness equation. I also believe that strength training can actually lead to better and deeper sleep and have found research to support this theory.
High-Intensity Exercise can help enforce Deeper Sleep
Let us start with what lack of sleep can mean to you whether you are a beginner at the gym or any sport or just looking to get healthier. Lack of sleep, which for an adult is anything less than seven hours can lead to “impaired cognitive performance, lowered mood, impaired appetite regulation, immunity function and glucose metabolism.” (Interrelationship between Sleep and Exercise: A Systematic Review, n.d., p. 07)
Furthermore, “the process of sleep also affects the brain at an endocrine level.” (Interrelationship between Sleep and Exercise: A Systematic Review, n.d., p. 07). The journal of Advances in Preventive Medicine explored the relationship between quality of sleep and both low and high intensity exercise to find that high intensity exercise leads to a deeper sleep than the former kind of exercise.
What happens to my body when it is sleep deprived?
Lack of sleep negatively affects mood and can lead to anxiety. If lack of sleep becomes chronic, it will “result in weakened immunity, increased pain, impaired performance, increased error and greater risk of accident.” (Interrelationship between Sleep and Exercise: A Systematic Review, n.d., p. 02)
Chronic lack of sleep can be prevented in the following ways:
- Do not use your cell phone an hour before you sleep. In particular, it is the over-stimulation in the evening hours before you sleep that are responsible for interrupted sleep. A simple trick is to put your phone in another room, make sure that the room is not too far in case you need your alarm clock.
- Dot not exercise too early or too late in the evening as the timing can disrupt sleep. Aim to exercise during mid-morning, noon or afternoon.
- Contrary to popular advice, naps can be beneficial in boosting energy when one finds themselves sleep deprived. Take them as often as you need when you find that you have skipped out on some hours of sleep, they will help re-energize your body.
Finally, as this is a recovery-themed post, I would like to share the general guidelines for sleep based on age:
- Teens: 8-10 hours
- Younger adults: 7-9 hours
- Adults: 7-9 hours
- Older Adults: 7-8 hours
Exercise is commonly prescribed as treatment to help sleep-deprived individuals get deep sleep, I highly encourage active individuals or beginners to see recovery as part of the fitness process and to take the aforementioned steps to make the best out of those sleeping hours.
References
Dresdin, A. (n.d.). The Importance of Sleep for Weightlifters and other Athletes. Retrieved from https://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/the-importance-of-sleep-for-weightlifters-and-other-athletes
Interrelationship between Sleep and Exercise: A Systematic Review. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5385214/
Comments (19)
[…] guys, today’s blog post is going to be about recovery. Make sure to check out my blog post about the link between sleep and fitness. Today’s blog post will go over why taking rest days […]
[…] #6: Prioritize rest and eat […]
[…] to our muscles. Therefore it is crucial to take our rest days seriously, check out this post on active recovery to find out more about how we can optimize our rest days for better physique development. Other […]
[…] is important for numerous reasons. One of the reasons sleep is especially crucial during the holiday period is because it allows our […]
[…] and training with intent and enough intensity, you want to make sure that you are getting enough sleep and relaxation. Consider self care as a necessity if you want to thrive and make continuous progress […]
[…] to our muscles. Therefore it is crucial to take our rest days seriously, check out this post on active recovery to find out more about how we can optimize our rest days for better physique development. […]
[…] can be done in numerous ways, one of which is sleep! Sleep is an underrated component of both our fitness and beauty regimens. Aim to get at least 7-8 […]
[…] Sleep is also important for our bodies to recover between our training sessions. […]
[…] Sleep and recovery are key to any fitness journey, especially in the Middle East, where long work hours and family commitments can make it tough to rest. […]
[…] should also emphasize sleep, take care of our iron levels, and have adequate protein intake. We need to […]
[…] Health looks like this: strength training 2-3x a week to build healthy muscle (which helps us live longer and releases hope hormones), walking half an hour a day, consuming a high protein nutrient-rich diet, drinking a lot of water, prioritize rest and sleep. […]
[…] and Sleep: Stress and poor sleep sabotage fat loss by impacting hormones and recovery. They literally impede your body’s ability […]
[…] active recovery, mobility, and rest days […]
[…] to get 7–9 hours of sleep at night, prioritizing at least 4 hours in particular of deep sleep. Make sure to also have a […]
[…] sleep amplifies neuroplasticity which is your brain’s ability to create neural pathways. The […]
[…] cannot out-train a lack of sleep. Research consistently shows that a single night of restricted sleep (4–5 hours) can induce a […]
[…] stress and sleeping enough are fundamental steps towards achieving our dream bodies. We need to alert our bodies that […]
[…] sleep and stress affect muscle preservation. Your body does not know you want a smaller waist and bigger […]
[…] Sleep disruption can influence training readiness, concentration, and perceived fatigue. Repeated poor sleep can negatively influence our ability to maintain consistent training performance. […]