The most overlooked aspect of health and fitness is recovery. Most people know that they should be training regularly and eating well, but very few people would give rest and recovery the same amount of respect as the other two.
The truth is, proper recovery is every bit as important as the others if you want to make serious health and fitness progress. Sleep is regenerative - it’s during our sleep that our bodies rest and recover. Tissues are repaired and re-modelled. Sleep is when neural connections are made to improve muscle function, co-ordination and balance.
Sleep and Physique Improvement
During sleep our endocrine (hormonal system) works its magic. It balances hormone levels, regulates appetite (have you ever noticed that when you’re tired, you want to eat more - especially sugar?), increases human growth hormone production, reduces stress hormone secretion and helps to regulate digestion. Research on sleep disturbance has even said…
Sleep disturbances and, particularly, deprivation are associated with an increased risk of obesity, diabetes and insulin insensitivity
The evidence literally says if you don’t sleep enough, you are at a higher risk of obesity and diabetes. There’s more than that though - a lack of sleep can have a negative effect on muscle strength as well.
In a study on the relationship between sleep and muscle strength in young men and women, there was a marked reduction in the muscle strength of the male students who had slept for less than 6 hours when compared to those who had slept 7+ hours.
What the evidence is showing is that whilst a lot of people take pride in their work ethic and not getting much sleep, they’re doing themselves no good physically, or even mentally. When it comes to brain function, sleep is a huge factor - in this comprehensive review of sleep and cognitive performance studies, researchers noticed that sleep deprivation has a negative effect on all types of memory, recall, special and reaction tasks. There was not a single cognitive function that was improved by sleep deprivation.
The effects also spill over into motivation and mental health, so a fundamental aspect of self-care needs to be making sure you have enough good quality sleep. The crossover benefits of good sleep are literally life-changing and far too numerous to list here.
How do we Improve Sleep?
This is the million dollar question and the good news is, a lot of the answers are common sense. Here’s an overview of the current guidance…
Get comfortable. If your mattress is uncomfortable, get a new one. It isn’t a luxury, it’s an investment. You spend more time time bed than you do almost anywhere else, so make it a good one!
Sleep in a DARK room. Research shows that the darker a room is, the better the sleep. Turn your phone face down so it doesn’t light up with alerts. Cover clocks that emit light. Buy blackout blinds - juts make the room dark.
Avoid stimulants before bed. This is obvious.
Reduce screen time before bed - eliminate it in bed. If you’re staring at a phone or TV in bed, you’re going to reduce sleep quality. Read a book instead.
Use a sleep hypnosis podcast. These are a pretty new thing in the mass market, but research is suggesting hypnotic suggestion can be effective.
Supplement. There is good research around the use of CBD oil as a sleep aid. ZMA (zinc and magnesium) supplements have also been linked to sleep quality.
Follow these bits of advice and you’re likely to have a great night sleep, which will cross over into other aspects of your life. Your physical and mental performance, your physique, your appetite, your stress levels and your mental health are all likely to improve on the back of these improvements to your sleep quality.
Jump on my Home Workout Classes
To help the AdMac Fitness members stay on top of their fitness whilst under lockdown, I’m offering two online zoom sessions a week. These are held on Monday’s and Thursday’s, 6.30-7.30pm.
Each class is £5 and free for NHS staff members.
To enrol, send me an email or WhatsApp (click the link and it’ll let you do it) and I’ll send you the meeting number and passcode to access the session.
AdMac Fitness is keeping the world active during this, you can rely on us!