Sleep has many benefits, including increased recovery and performance, boosting your immune system and helping to regulate hunger signaling. Sleep also helps reduce stress, improving brain function and mood.
In the deeper stages of sleep, blood flow increases, bringing nutrients and oxygen to the muscles, increasing muscle recovery from exercise. Cortisol, a stress hormone, is also reduced by sleep, which further improves recovery, brain function and mood. While we sleep, the immune system releases cytokines which help fight off illnesses and infections. Reduced sleep can decrease energy production during exercise which in turn, decreases performance in the gym. Hunger signals are also affected by sleep, which can affect our appetite and calorie consumption.
Increased blood flow during sleep helps recovery from exercise, reducing the effects of DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness), allowing us to keep training. Cortisol reduction from sleep also aids the recovery process and reduces life stress. Energy production during exercise is affected by our sleeping habits, which directly affects our gym performance. Lack of sleep interferes with motivation to exercise, which stops us exercising to our full capacity. The boost to the immune system from sleep helps fight off illness, making it less likely for you to get sick. This allows our work and training to remain uninterrupted. Increased regulation of hunger signals from sleep can stop the overconsumption of food, helping us sustain weight loss. Sleep also improves brain function, improving focus, cognition, concentration, problem solving skills, memory and productivity. Mood is also affected by sleep, improving your ability to interact socially and process emotional information. Ultimately, sleep influences many factors of life and day-to-day living, which affect our health, productivity at work and our progress at the gym.
- Sleep benefits
- Immune function
- Hunger signalling
- This aids:
- energy production
- brain function
- Benefiting performance and overall health