Why Sleep Is so Important When Trying to Build Muscle
You can exercise intensely, eat the right foods, and take the right supplements, but your muscles won’t grow without proper sleep.
This video from the PictureFit YouTube channel explains how important sleep is to your body when you’re trying to build muscle. In fact, apart from your workout, sleep is the most important thing. First, lack of sleep means you have less energy to use at the gym while exercising. You can still lift and run at maximum, but you will get tired much faster, which means there will be fewer sets overall . Lack of sleep can also increase the chance of injury, and you will not lift anything if it hurts.
Sleep is also needed to balance hormones. While you sleep, your body releases anabolic hormones such as testosterone and IGF-1 , which are essential for muscle growth. Lack of sleep can slow down the rate at which these hormones are released in the body and lead to a complete halt in weight gain. In addition, sleep lowers the levels of muscle-breaking hormones such as cortisol in the body. Basically, sleep helps you maintain muscle mass while you’re trying to gain mass or even lose weight.
Finally, lack of sleep can raise levels of the appetite-boosting hormone ghrelin, while simultaneously lowering levels of the hormone leptin , which makes you feel full. This can make you crave snacks and meals outside of your strict muscle-building diet. So don’t just focus on your workout when trying to get in shape – make sure you get a good night’s sleep .