We all know that sleep is important, but we often don’t give it enough respect. Getting enough sleep can provide a ton of benefits, and not getting enough can take a huge toll on our bodies. So what are some of those effects?
Recovery from workouts: When you workout, you are creating small amounts of damage, which your body then repairs. When your body is done repairing the damage, you come back better than ever. However, sleep is a huge part of that recovery process. Giving your body insufficient sleep means that you won’t recover as quickly or as well, which is a massive hindrance to your fitness progress. You also will have less energy during your next workout.
Mood/mental health: Not getting enough sleep sleep has been found to increase levels of stress and depression, especially when lack of sleep is chronic. In addition to this, when we are sleep deprived, we tend to turn to caffeine as our savior. The problem is that caffeine tends to raise increase stress hormones even further. These hormones will also cause your body to start retaining fat and burning muscle if left unchecked, which only makes your fitness journey more difficult.
Eating: Lack of sleep has been found to cause increased hunger, which causes you to eat more. If you are trying to watch your eating, increased hunger makes it more difficult to cut calories. I quite often hear from people who have put on weight recently and can’t figure out why. Quite often, their sleep schedule has been disrupted by something like a new baby, work, or construction going on. They also usually have developed an inexplicable craving for things like ice cream and cookies at the same time. Once they get their sleep schedule back under control, the weight and the cravings tend to recede.
Immune system: Getting sick sucks. Getting sufficient sleep increases your immune system’s ability to fight off sickness, which means that both you’ll get sick less and and recover faster.
Lower risk for health problems: Lack of sleep can increase your risk of heart problems substantially. People getting less than 6 hours of sleep per night have been found to have a 20% greater risk of heart attacks. In addition, heart attack risk has been found to increase 20% during the week after Daylight Savings and it is presumed to be a result of disrupted/decreased sleep schedules from Daylight Savings.
Mental clarity/focus: When you’re running on insufficient sleep, your brain doesn’t work as well as when you are getting enough sleep. It might be things like making simple mistakes at work or school, or it might be things like leaving the stove on or getting into a car accident. Daylight Savings has been linked to a roughly 6% increase in car accidents, and it is thought to be a result of disrupted/decreased sleep schedules from Daylight Savings.
As you can see, sleep plays a massive role in your health. Regardless of whether you are an early bird, night owl, or an average joe, make sure that you are getting enough sleep: the CDC recommends between 7 to 9 hours. It may be boring, but it could save your life.
Seaotter Fitness 