Are you working out regularly but not seeing the results you want? Consider that poor sleep is killing your gains if you don’t get sufficient rest every night.
According to experts, insufficient sleep slows down muscle growth. Find out more about this process with our team at Ethical Inc.. You can reach out to us for detailed information online.
Studies on the Results of Sleep on Muscle Development
Poor sleep can hurt muscle growth, even if you’re putting in the hours at the gym and eating correctly. For example, a study performed in 2016 showed that people with a restricted sleep schedule demonstrated less muscle fiber synthesis than those getting at least eight hours of sleep a night.
Another study, conducted in 2010, showed that individuals with a sleep restriction ended up losing the same amount of weight as though sleeping a full eight hours. However, they ended up losing lean muscle instead of fat tissue.
Therefore, the amount of sleep you get can correlate directly to the muscle gained over time.
Why Poor Sleep Slows Down Muscle Growth
So, poor sleep is killing your gains. Why does this happen? Let’s consider the process your body uses to build muscle to understand how sleep and increased muscle mass connect.
Muscle growth occurs in three stages: stimulus, recovery, and adaptation. The stimulus stage occurs when you train your muscles by lifting weights, swimming, or engaging in other physical activities.
The recovery stage involves eating a healthy diet, getting sufficient rest, and sleeping. Your body focuses on maintaining, growing, and repairing muscle fibers when you sleep. Skipping out on sleep prevents your body from accomplishing these tasks.
The final state of muscle growth, adaptation, happens because of the stimulus and recovery stages.
Physical Reactions to Poor Sleep
Your body goes through a series of physical reactions when you don’t get enough sleep, all of which can have a negative impact on your muscle growth. Generally, you’ll experience:
- An enhanced neuroendocrine response, leading to increased hunger
- Increased production of ghrelin, leading to fat retention
- A lower decreased resting metabolic rate (RMR), meaning you burn fewer calories while at rest
Additionally, many people experience drops in performance when they’re tired. Your risk of making a mistake and sustaining an injury increases when you don’t get enough sleep.
You may feel less motivated to work out and train when you experience sleep deprivation. Your body already feels tired and weak, so it’s much harder for you to get up the motivation to go to the gym and work out.
You can focus on preventing these issues by ensuring that you get to sleep every night for an appropriate amount of time.
Contact Us About Getting Enough Sleep to Support Your Gains
Poor sleep is killing your gains, but you don’t have to let it keep happening. Find out more to support healthy sleeping habits with our team at Ethical Inc.. You can easily reach us online through our social channels.
Take care,
Team Ethical
