ML Coaching
"Faster muscle growth in your sleep" and "slim while you sleep" aren't marketing effects dreamed up by supplement companies. If you give your body enough sleep, you can actually build muscle faster and lose weight faster too.
How's your sleep quality? Are you getting enough sleep, or are you running a sleep deficit? Most of us are probably sleep-deprived, and quite a few of us sleep poorly on top of that, even though most people know that too little sleep is unhealthy.
In this post, I'll show you why not only the right training, but also your sleep is extremely important for muscle growth and fat burning, and how you can improve your sleep quality with 4 simple tricks.
Why sleep is so important for your fitness
We spend roughly a third of our lives asleep. That might seem like a lot, but your body genuinely needs that much sleep. While you sleep, your body regenerates energy. If you go to bed at 1am and get up again at 6am, you've clearly gotten too little sleep.
Adults generally need seven to nine hours of sleep. If you consistently sleep less than 7 hours, it can have negative effects on your body.
If you sleep too little, you risk physical and mental fatigue, which in turn affects your performance and concentration in everyday life, at work, and in sport too. Sleep deprivation also puts you in a bad mood!
Sleep deprivation makes losing weight harder
You train regularly but don't see results? It might be down to your sleep. Researchers have found a connection between sleep deprivation and hunger. To compensate for tiredness and get energy, hormones signal your body to reach for a snack that's actually unnecessary. Too many of these snacks can obviously affect your weight.
Another negative effect of too little sleep is a change in how your metabolism generates energy: sleep deprivation reduces glucose tolerance, so your body releases too little insulin to break down sugar. As a result, a lot of the sugar you take in through food stays in your blood, and your body stores fat more easily.
I'd be happy to show you in 1:1 personal training Zurich how effective fat loss actually works and how the right nutrition can support muscle growth, so you can shed excess fat reserves quickly. The right training combined with a nutrition plan tailored to your body type and needs will help you achieve a clear before-and-after result.
Faster muscle growth with good sleep
Without enough sleep, you can only build muscle mass very slowly. In personal training Zurich, I'm happy to show you how to optimize your strength training and support faster muscle growth. But without enough good sleep, all that effort won't make your muscles grow any faster.
What you need besides effective training is good sleep. Not just for good performance during sport, but also for your muscles' recovery. Without proper recovery, you can't build muscle.
If you don't sleep enough, your cortisol level is elevated. If this stress hormone can't be broken down, muscle growth is inhibited, and muscle mass is even broken down. That's because your body, under stress, pulls proteins from your muscles to supply your body with energy. But cortisol has other negative effects too: it accelerates the aging process and weakens your immune system.
Sleep better with these 4 tips
As you can see, sleeping too little has serious negative consequences for your athletic progress. Try to sleep enough on a regular basis to actively support muscle recovery and improve your fitness.
If everyday stress, deadlines and time pressure don't always let you sleep enough, you can at least improve the quality of your sleep. The following 4 tips will help you fall asleep better, so you can recover better during the night, supporting and speeding up your muscle growth in your sleep.
Sleep better tip #1: Don't go to bed on a full stomach
If your stomach is full, it's hard to fall asleep, and the quality of your sleep suffers too, since indigestion and heartburn make for a restless night. Don't eat anything too heavy or fatty in the evening, so your dinner doesn't sit heavily in your stomach.
Ideally, eat 2 to 3 hours before going to bed, to give your stomach enough time to digest the food before your metabolism switches into nighttime energy-saving mode.
Don't drink too much water right before bed either. Otherwise you might have to get up several times during the night to relieve yourself. That disrupts your deep sleep phase, where important recovery processes take place.
Sleep better tip #2: Go to bed at similar times
If you go to bed at similar times and get up at the same time in the morning, your internal clock can adjust to these time windows. This regularity helps you fall asleep and wake up. Try to keep your sleep habits consistent on weekends too.
Sleep better tip #3: Darken your bedroom
Too much brightness can keep you from sleeping. When it's light, the production of the hormone melatonin in your body is suppressed, which makes it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. Blackout curtains or a sleep mask can make your sleep more restorative.
Sleep better tip #4: Relax before going to bed
Relaxation exercises aren't just a good remedy for stress, they also prepare you optimally for sleep. Take conscious time before going to bed and breathe in and out deliberately a few times. Watch how your belly slowly rises and falls back down as you exhale. A few gentle stretches will also help you fall asleep.
Let's speed up your muscle growth in personal training!
I'm happy to show you more relaxation and stretching exercises for your evening routine in personal training, exercises that improve your sleep quality and support faster muscle growth in your sleep, so you achieve results quickly and efficiently. With my professional help, you'll reach your goal faster. That's my promise as your personal trainer.
Book a free trial session for your personal training Zurich right now, either in person or via livestream from my 360-degree studio. I look forward to seeing you!