Sleep has long been associated with mental and physical health, protecting you from mental issues like stress all the way to heart disease. Now many researchers are reporting that it can be helpful in performing better in your daily workout. Octaspring sleep expert Tim Pinchin, recently shared his thoughts on how much sleep is needed in order for you to get the best out of yourself when exercising.
When training, it is recommended that you attempt to get an extra hour of sleeping to restore the body. When exercising, a lot of stress and exertion is applied to the body. An extra hour can help your body heal faster and return to peak form so you can perform consistently at a high level. Consider going to bed an hour earlier than you usually would or work an afternoon nap into your schedule.
Being very active during the day but not getting enough sleep at night will ultimately lead you to having a reduced energy level. The low energy will continue to build up until you take some time to recover. Obtaining the right amount of sleep works in sync with how the body stores glycogen (glucose from food that is stored in animals). Glycogen is converted to energy when you need it most. Not getting enough sleep will leave you with not enough glycogen to use during your training, decreasing your speed and stamina.
Cognitive restoration, the process by which your brain recovers from mental fatigue, needs sleep. Sleep recharges our thought process. In sports, the lack of sleep will affect your split second decisions, making them less accurate. This will have a great impact on performance, especially in contact and coordination sports.
During sleep, the growth hormone somatropin is increased. It plays a big role in the recovery of your muscles and fatigue. Not getting enough sleep will increase the level of cortisol, the stress hormone and therefore making you stressed and delaying the recovering of the body. To improve the quality of sleep, it is recommended you try and get into a slow-wave or deep sleep, the most restorative type of sleep.
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