It’s true that exercising regularly can have a miraculous effect on your sleeping experience. However, your body’s ability to work out or perform other athletic activities also depends on the quality and quantity of your sleep. Health experts and fitness trainers are often heard saying that the body requires about 7 to 8 hours of solid sleep to efficiently exercise. Therefore, today we will be talking about the many ways your sleep health is connected with the body’s overall health and how it affects your working out.
#01 Muscle Repair
A good night’s sleep is linked with proper regulation of protein synthesis and secretion of growth hormone in the body, both of which are absolutely important for muscle repair. The restorative sleep one gets during the non-REM (Random Eye Movement) sleep phase is particularly important for protein synthesis. Taking part in a work out session without appropriate sleep is risking your muscles for further risk of muscle tear and injury as they haven’t yet recovered from the previous damage to muscles.
#02 Energy
A person who exercises regularly or participates in athletic activities requires more energy than someone who doesn’t. Apart from diet, the best way to restore that energy is to have a good night’s sleep. The glycogen stored in your muscles and liver is the fuel your cells need to perform such physical functions. Not sleeping enough can quickly deplete the glycogen store from your body and cause subsequent loss of energy. Taking part in a workout session without a sufficient amount of sleep can lead to fatigue and increase the risk of injuries.
#03 Muscle Mass
Exercising is a lot about keeping the body in good shape and that can be achieved only by gaining proper muscle mass. Our body not only accumulates muscle mass but also sheds fat while sleeping. According to a past study, participants who slept less than 5.5 hours a day were observed to gain 60% less muscle mass. At the same time, there was a 40% increased rate of muscle mass gain among the participants who slept above 8.5 hours. The brain releases several hormones while the body is sleeping such as the human growth hormone that help building in muscle mass and regulate blood glucose level.
#04 Body Pain
The REM (rapid eye movement) sleep phase is associated with relaxing of muscles that help relieve any kind of pain in the body. Strenuous workout sessions or new exercise routines can often lead to muscle soreness and body pain. Though such pains are largely normal, you must ensure that you sleep adequately to allow your body to gradually heal the pain so that you can continue your work out sessions without any problem. A poor sleep quality or a bad mattress can cause you other forms of pain such as those in your neck and back. This is why we recommend that you do not compromise with your sleep health and invest in a quality mattress at once- click here to find out more.
#05 Stress
It is a widely known fact that exercise lifts stress off from the body and the mind. However, exercising becomes difficult and risky when there’s an increased amount of stress as it undermines your cognitive functions and physical performance. Added stress on the body makes it difficult to work out as it can also lead to improper hand and eye coordination, risk of injury, fatigue, diminished concentration and may cause demotivation in some. A good night’s sleep on the other hand helps regulate the cortisol levels in the body that are responsible for causing stress. While it’s normal to produce this stress hormone at times for alertness, sleep deprivation in the night means that there’s increased cortisol level in your body.
#06 Tiredness
If your body is not rested properly due to poor sleep quality, chances are you’ll feel tired and groggy throughout the day. The use of electronic devices like smartphones, TVs, and computers are particularly linked with making it harder to fall asleep. This tiredness can often lead to daytime sleepiness and long naps that can further disrupt your sleep schedule and make it harder to fall asleep. While it’s always good to go easy on your work out sessions while feeling tired, a continuous feeling of tiredness may result in decreased productivity and inability to meet goals. Studies in the past have shown that a well-rested person has higher chances of completing an exercise regimen compared to someone with poor sleep quality.
#07 Performance
Though there’s not much substantial research to back this claim many health experts believe that a good night’s sleep has a lot to do with how you perform. Not only can ill rest people be easily demotivated from continuing to exercise but the same work out session may start to feel harder than before. Sleep is associated with several brain functions important for giving your best at every session such as judgment, mood, endurance, speed, accuracy, etc. You may want to try out the 60 seconds trick in times when you are having trouble falling asleep.
Bottom line:
Though exercising is crucial for an overall improved sleep quality, it is crucial to not have heavy work out sessions close to sleeping time as this might stimulate the body and make it harder to fall asleep. Exercising can often make you feel sleepy but it is important that you abstain from having naps in the day that are longer than 30 to 40 minutes.
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