Sleep is an important aspect of life. It can have an effect on our physical, emotional, and mental health! This is why you have heard me talk about how important rest is. I know some of you have heard me talking about getting the right mattress for your sleep style, setting up a night routine, and setting up a wake routine all in an effort to improve your rest and recovery.
So, let’s talk about what I work with most, physical health. When it comes to rest, this is when we recover and rebuild our bodies. This is very important for recovery after workouts and to rebuild that hard earned muscle mass. Studies have shown that individuals on a calorie regulated diet, those getting only 5.5 hours of sleep had 60% less muscle mass at the end of the study and those sleeping 8.5 hours 40% MORE muscle mass! This is due to the ability to have more intense workouts as well as helping the body to produce Human Growth Hormone (HGH). HGH helps to regulate fat storage and muscle growth as well as bone growth at younger ages and other aspects of our metabolism.
Speaking of the hormone HGH, there is much more to it than just increased production, we also want to help balance our hormones! Sleep studies with nurses getting 5 hours or less of sleep have shown that they were 15% more likely to be obese than those getting 7 or more hours of sleep. In this study they weren’t quite sure as to why they gained weight but the cause was most likely hormonal.
Leptin and ghrelin, known as your hunger hormones. Ghrelin is what lets your brain know that you are hungry and Leptin is what helps tell your brain that you are full. When you are sleep deprived these hormones can get out of wack! You end up making more Ghrelin and less Leptin, leading to over eating. This is something I have personally noticed when being low on sleep, that feeling that you just cannot stop eating no matter how full your body feels. What makes this even worse is that as you get more sleep deprived, the decision making part of your brain reduces function and leads to less ability to fight binging. It can be a rough cycle of feeling incredibly hungry, overeating, and knowing that you should stop but not having the willpower to do so. Studies of individuals getting only 4 hours or less of sleep would eat 22% more calories than those getting 8 hours of sleep.
Lastly, lack of sleep can lead to lower calories burned. This could be due to a reduction in resting metabolic rate (RMR) and/or less physical activity performed. On the RMR side, some studies have shown that when participants had less sleep, they lost weight at a lower rate. They also found that RMR dropped much more after eating than normal with the lower sleep group. As far as calories burned, it would seem that you could burn more calories if you were awake more hours of the day. The fact is that we become to run down to perform at the same intensity as normal. This lower intensity causes less calories to be burned throughout the day. So it is much more effective to get a full nights rest and come into the next day full of energy.
The main point here is that if you aren’t sleeping, you are working against your goals. You will reduce your ability to build muscle mass, burn fat, and perform to your fullest. This combination is brutal for fat loss and basically causes everything to work against you! You will also feel broken down constantly. Your mind will be foggy. Your ability to perform to the required intensity to promote muscle growth will be greatly reduced. The cravings will increase. Your willpower will be low making it hard to say no to those binge urges. That likelihood of getting sick will increase. Etc. So please… GET SOME SLEEP! Your body will thank you.
