3 Ways Not Getting Enough Sleep Is Affecting Your Fitness

Many of us might think that Fitness is all about eating right and working out but if you have a great meal plan and workout routine and aren't seeing the results you want there might be something missing. You might be training consistently and can't remember what a cheat meal is because of how strict you follow your diet but if you aren't getting the right amount of sleep to recover from your workouts then your gains might not be coming as fast as you thought. In today's blog we will go over 3 ways not getting enough sleep is affecting your Fitness.

Growth Happens During Sleep Not During The Gym

One thing you have to remember is that when we train we aren't really building up the body we are actually breaking it down. Lifting those heavy weights or doing the high intense cardio is just the catalyst for your body to grow and get stronger. What actually gets your body bigger and stronger is the proper nutrition and proper rest. When you sleep your body releases growth hormone. This hormone helps strengthen your bones and muscles so if you aren't getting the right amount of sleep to recover from your workouts you won't be seeing much progress.

No Sleep, NO FAT LOSS

If fat loss is your goal then you might want to know that not getting enough sleep can cause you to gain weight. Not sleeping decreases your body's levels of Leptin which is a hormone that lets your body know when it's full. Not sleeping also increases your levels of Ghrelin, which increases your appetite most likely causing you to eat more than usual.

Low Energy Levels

If you aren't sleeping enough on a regular basis you will definitely start to feel some negative effects. Not sleeping enough can cause you to be lazy and less motivated than usual. Your memory can also be affected as well as your concentration, feeling like this will lower your chances of actually wanting to go and workout. If you do manage to make it to the gym your performance will be greatly affected and it will be harder for you to get a good workout in.

Exercise and nutrition is important but you also need to sleep in order to recover and make the progress you are striving for. If you feel like your progress has plateaued you need to figure out a way to sleep more, and not just sleep more hours but try to get good quality deep sleep. If sleeping more hours isn't an option maybe looking for ways to take small naps throughout the day can also help. Maybe the next time your alarm rings trying to wake you up for work hitting the snooze button won't be as bad, tell them you were late because of your Gains!