IMPLICATIONS FOR RECOVERY, MUSCLE BUILDING AND FAT LOSS
With one night of bad sleep comes a lack of motivation to train and difficulty in being able to achieve a good workout! But if you are continuing to suffer from poor sleep there are several implications overtime that will have a big effect on your health & fitness goals:
1
IMPAIRED RECOVERY
AFTER SESSIONS
A lack of sleep has shown to decrease testosterone and human growth hormone (HGH) levels and increase cortisol levels, which can inhibit adequate growth and repair of the muscles! So if you are striving to make gains it is important not to neglect your focus on achieving a good nights sleep- recovery and repair between sessions is crucial!
2
HORMONAL
IMBALANCES
Sleep deprivation has the potential to offset muscle health by compromising glucose metabolism, decreasing insulin sensitivity, and impairing muscle function.
Hormones such as ghrelin (hunger stimulating hormone) and leptin (chemical that makes you feel full) also have an adverse effect on suppressing hunger and appetite when they are not regulated. If you have a lack of sleep, or poor quality sleep this can have a suprising impact on your hunger levels. Often leading to you making poor food choices the following day or easily overeating- these disruptions will make it harder to stay on track with nutrition and achieve your goals.
3
IMPAIRED TRAINING
PERFORMANCE
As a result of sleep deprivation, your ability to train hard will be dramatically impaired- suffering with a lack of motivation, feeling fatigued and not being able to train to your optimum levels Over time, this can become a major issue, especially when you have specific body composition and/or nutritional goals!
4
WEAKENED IMMUNE SYSTEM
A combination of a reduction in natural killer cells and hormonal imbalances reduces your immune system’s ability to fight off infection, making you more susceptible to common colds and flus! Having to take time off due to illness is never good. So help keep your body's natural defence system strong with good sleep!
ALCOHOL & ITS EFFECTS ON SLEEP
Sometimes it's tempting to have one or two drinks to help us fall asleep... and this may work! But in reality alcohol has a negative effect on the QUALITY of your sleep.
ALCOHOL IS CLASSED AS A SEDATIVE
You may feel that your sleep latency will have improved because you fell ‘asleep’ faster, however sedation does not equal sleep! Therefore, the quality of your sleep will be dramatically reduced.
ALCOHOL FRAGMENTS SLEEP
Alcohol increases the number of times you wake during the night, making your sleep less continuous and therefore reducing your sleep quality and quantity!
ALCOHOL BLOCKS REM SLEEP
REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep is vitally important for cognitive function, learning and memory, not to mention emotional and mental health! Reductions in REM sleep reduces the body’s ability to regulate/release hormones such as testosterone, growth hormone, ghrelin, and leptin, which are important for muscle building and supressing hunger/appetite!