As tempting as it might be to pull an all-nighter with friends or bump back your normal bedtime an hour or two, breaking your nightly sleep habits might be the cause for more than just a grumpy morning the next day. In fact, skimping on precious shut-eye can have you saying goodbye to the strength gains you’ve been trying to achieve in the gym!
We know that adequate sleep is appropriate for not only helping us rest and repair our brains from the day before, but did you know that getting enough rest also has a direct correlation with muscle recovery and repair? Think about it this way, you get a solid night of sleep, and what is the corresponding reaction? You wake up refreshed, energized, and ready to take on the day – and your workout. However, if you don’t get enough zzz’s, you’re deflated, and probably not tackling your workout to the best of your abilities.
How Much Sleep Do We Need?
Technically, our bodies need around 8 hours of sleep each night; this can vary from person to person and can range anywhere from 7-9 hours of sleep. This is especially true if you find you’re training at a higher intensity in the gym; the harder the training, the more sleep, and recovery you’ll need. If you find that you’re not getting adequate sleep each night, you might begin to notice a few detrimental effects, such as mood changes, injuries, delayed reaction times, and even an increase in cortisol, which is a stress hormone within the body. With that being said, what happens within the body when you are getting enough rest each night?
Understanding Sleep Stages
All in all, there are two main stages of sleep – this includes NREM (non-rapid eye movement) and REM (rapid eye movement). For the majority of the time we’re asleep, we’re experiencing the NREM stage, and during this cycle, our breathing regulates and temperatures drop. Then, we get into the restorative phase of sleep. This is when our muscles and tissues are repaired from the day’s events (aka your gym session), and hormones are released from the brain that help with the development and growth needed to build strong muscles.
During the other portion of sleep known as REM, our brains are more active, and energy that is needed for both the mind and muscles is produced. This only occurs for about a quarter of the sleep we get at night – and that’s because with NREM sleep, our bodies are repairing and recovering – essential for the hectic days and heavy gym sessions that we experience!
How To Improve Your Sleep Habits
So, how can you improve your sleep habits in order to get the most benefit out of recovery – and continue to build upon those strength gains? For one, we need to realize that not everyone is going to have the exact same requirements for optimal sleep, but, there are some factors that can be the same across the board. For one, the sleep environment needs to be dark, and set to a comfortable temperature (if this means you need to purchase some room darkening blinds and turn the overhead fan on, go for it!). Second, reducing or eliminating the use of electronics before you go to bed is key. Blue light is emitted from tablets, smartphones, computers, and the like, which then, in turn, messes with your circadian rhythm, making it difficult to go to sleep.
Other factors that you can implement to improve sleep (and correspondingly, your muscle gains) include eliminating caffeine later in the day, reducing or eliminating alcohol, and incorporating a bedtime routine that can help you wind down at the end of the day (such as taking a bath, reading a book, playing calming music, etc.).
Once you realize you’re getting adequate amounts of shut-eye, not only will you begin to feel better, but you’re also going to notice how that benefit translates over to your muscle and strength gains!