02/17/2020
**HOW OPTIMAL SLEEP AFFECTS TRAINING RESULTS**
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If your fitness goal is to lose weight, gain muscle, and promote performance, here’s how sleep can benefit you:
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1. Sleep can help your body learn faster
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If you’re trying to learn a new motor skill, studies show that getting an adequate amount of quality sleep can help your body learn that new motor skill faster. Not only will sleep help your body learn new skills, but also help the brain automate movement routines, creating that motor skill as “second nature”. This is important when it comes to teaching your body how to execute an exercise properly
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2. Sleep can reduce the risk of muscle injury
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When the body does not get enough sleep, injury dramatically increases. An under-slept body, has impaired cardiovascular as well as having faster rates of lactic acid build up. A person getting 6hrs of sleep has as much as a 70% chance of getting injured, as for a person getting 9hrs of sleep has a 15% chance of injury. If you’re getting injured often, then you’re losing consistency in your workouts, therefore holding you back to achieving your goals
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3. Sleep promotes healthy weight loss
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When it comes to losing weight, quality and quantity of sleep matters. How you sleep can determine if the weight you lose is muscle or fat. People who sleep for 6hrs or less, lost 70% of their weight in lean body mass, meaning they lost muscle, not fat. Also lack of sleep will increase hunger, which can lead to unhealthy choices to satisfy an appetite.
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If you’re having trouble getting lean and building muscle in areas that need to be stronger, make sure you’re catching up on some sleep. Minimally get 7 hours of sleep 💤 🛏
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