Why sleep is important?

Whether we want to build muscle mass or reduce body fat percentage, there are always three repeating principles, that we have to comply to: Train Hard, Eat Well, Sleep Long. The first two might be easier to apply, along with our busy schedule but ‘sleep’ is one we often struggle with. Poor sleep might be the reason, why our body does not recover fast enough and why we cannot reach our goals.

When our muscles grow?

So let’s start by reminding ourselves, that our muscles grow, not when we exercise, but actually when we are recovering. So what’s the point of exercising every day, if our muscle does not have time to grow? Is it not better to skip one or two training days in favor of long, deep sleep? The answer is definitely YES! When we sleep our pituitary gland releases hormones, especially growth hormone, which stimulates tissue growth and muscle repair. Its deficiency causes loss of muscle mass, decreased exercise capacity, obesity, and even wound healing difficulty.

How can sleep affect weight loss and health?

Sleep helps maintain a healthy balance of the hormones like ghrelin and leptin. Irregular and too short, causes the body to reduce the amount of leptin, that regulates your appetite. Low leptin levels makes you feel hungrier and as the result you eat more during the day. Sleep also affects how your body reacts to insulin, the hormone that controls your blood glucose (sugar) level. Sleep deficiency results in a higher than normal sugar level in blood, may affect your insulin sensitivity and as the consequence may increase your risk for diabetes.

Ongoing sleep deficiency accelerates the aging process and can raise the risk for some chronic and mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. It could have negative effects on your immune system and influence how well you think, react, work, learn and get along with others.

How long should we sleep for?

It depends…let’s keep it simple, for most people about 7-8 hours a day is suffice. This helps us reach our fitness goals faster, stay healthier, be much more creative, focused and productive at work and above all live longer.