The arrival of spring comes with a call for vitality and activity. Every year, many people set goals to shed excess fat and build muscle in order to greet the warm sun with a strong physique before the height of summer. However, despite persistent exercise and controlled diets, the desired results are often not as satisfying as one might hope. You might wonder if your workout intensity is not high enough, or perhaps your protein intake is insufficient? In fact, the problem might lie in an often overlooked area—poor sleep quality.
If you’re just starting your fitness plan for the new year, whether it’s aimed at fat loss or muscle gain, remember this: Good sleep is essential. Without it, your efforts may be significantly undermined. Adequate rest not only promotes muscle growth but also effectively stimulates the body to produce IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor 1), a hormone crucial for muscle gain. It encourages the growth of muscle fibers and inhibits muscle breakdown, serving as a natural “muscle enhancer”.
The synthesis of many hormones requires good sleep as a prerequisite, such as growth hormone and testosterone. Studies show that secretion of growth hormone peaks during deep sleep, accounting for about 85% of daily output. Adequate sleep also boosts testosterone levels, and for those who get fewer than 6 hours of sleep per night, testosterone levels are significantly reduced. Therefore, good sleep can raise levels of growth hormone and testosterone, promoting the release of IGF-1, which in turn rapidly accelerates muscle growth.
So, for those fitness enthusiasts dedicated to muscle building, rather than spending a lot of money on supplements, a cost-free suggestion would be to ensure sufficient sleep. Over the long term of exercise, there will be a clear difference between those who get enough sleep and those who don’t.
For those in the fat loss phase, getting more sleep is just as important. Restrained diet and consistent exercise aim to maximize fat loss while preserving muscle. However, if months of effort mainly reduce muscle mass rather than fat, it is more likely to rebound and may lead to a physique that accumulates fat more easily. Ample sleep can help you maintain muscle mass after exercising, making fat loss more accurate.
Under the condition of insufficient calories, muscle is prone to loss. This issue is exacerbated by lack of sleep. The body switches to a mode that promotes muscle breakdown, with reduced secretion of hormones like growth hormone and testosterone that promote muscle synthesis, and increased secretion of cortisol, which promotes muscle breakdown. Studies have shown that with a similar weight loss of about 3 kg, people with adequate sleep lost more fat, while those with insufficient sleep lost more precious muscle.
A study showed that people who slept only 5.5 hours a day lost an average of 0.6 kg of fat mass, while those who slept for 8.5 hours lost an average of 1.4 kg of fat, more than twice the weight loss of the former. Furthermore, lack of sufficient sleep can amplify our feelings of hunger, posing additional challenges to weight loss. Therefore, the science behind losing weight through high-quality sleep is certainly well-founded.
Good sleep may be the key to developing a fondness for sports. When you are sleep-deprived, any physical activity seems unsustainable, with slow reaction and clumsy movements. Yet with sufficient sleep, whether it’s basketball, running, or weightlifting, you’ll feel light, strong, and agile, significantly improving your athletic performance.
Take a study from Stanford University as an example, where basketball players extended their nightly sleep to 10 hours, resulting in noticeable improvements in sprint speed and shooting accuracy. Tennis players who extended their sleep to 9 hours per night also saw an increase in their serving accuracy on the court. Moreover, for team sports like soccer, adequate sleep can enhance cognitive abilities, allowing for better strategic decisions during the game.
Similarly, individual sports such as swimming, diving, and running can also benefit from ample sleep. Research indicates that full rest not only enhances athletic performance but also brings success and joy in sports, gradually fostering a love for exercise and ultimately forming a habit.
There is a saying, “Those who persist in something do not do so just because of self-discipline, but because they truly love it.” If you have started your New Year’s exercise plan, why not fully utilize sleep to fuel yourself, enjoying this cost-free and comfortable benefit? Let’s share this article with our friends and embrace a healthy lifestyle together.
