More Sleep = Better Results

What if I told you that you were seriously screwing up your ability to get results at the gym by not sleeping enough? Would you actually believe me? Or slough it off and say that you’re one of the few who can get by with 5 hours a night?

“Sleep has huge impacts on our fitness and nutrition.”

We all know that we’re supposed to get 7-9 hours of sleep every night. Whether we take that seriously is another story.

Believe it or not, sleep has huge impacts on our fitness and nutrition. I want to spend a few minutes today with a science lesson on why prioritizing sleep quantity and quality will make your entire life astronomically easier. It’s not anecdotal, it’s based in the research.

FITNESS:

Most importantly, getting enough quality sleep promotes the release of human growth hormone(HGH) in our brain - which in turn helps break down fat into energy and influences lean muscle growth. In order to adequately recover from our workouts and get results, we need that good, good HGH.

We’re often unmotivated to workout from a lack of sleep for a few reasons. Most hormone production is done in our sleep and can negatively impact our ability to get into the gym. For example:

• An inconsistent sleep schedule can influence cortisol levels to remain high and discourage exercise due to excess stress.

• Lack of sleep can decrease testosterone production (usually released during REM sleep) that leaves us with low energy and inadequate intensity at the gym.

• Dopamine has a huge impact on motivation, and lack of sleep can reduce dopamine sensitivity, effectively making it harder to start exercising and enjoy the rewards of moving your body.

NUTRITION:

Lack of sleep increases the production of ghrelin (the hunger hormone) and decreases the production of leptin (the hormone that makes you feel full). When these imbalances occur we find ourselves craving and binging high calorie foods that can throw us off our nutrition plan. Getting consistent, good quality sleep is essential to keeping these hunger hormones in check and setting ourselves up to make good decisions around food.

When we sleep well, we eat better.

So much of getting results is making sure we 1) get the most out of the exercise we do through adequate intensity and recovery and 2) are able to keep moving and eating well day after day after day.

Results are dependent upon consistency, and because of the physiological importance of sleep, it’s incredibly challenging to having consistent exercise and positive eating habits without it.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

We don’t just tell you to get enough sleep so that you don’t feel sleepy at the gym. Sleeping long enough and sleeping well enough are the best ways to set ourselves up for success for a lifetime of sustainable health.

P.S. I’m not even going to get into the cognitive risks, mental health concerns, and impacts on your personal life that sleep deprivation brings. The stakes are high enough without adding that piece of the puzzle. Feel free to look up those additional risks for yourself!