The fitness transformation piece you're missing...Sleep
Use sleep to maximize your performance and get into shape
A small kiddo that comes into your room a few times a night, crying baby, and long day at work. As dads, we’ve all experienced these and other things that limit our ability to consistently get 7-8 hours of sleep at night.
Fitness and Nutrition expert, Shawn Stevenson, captures this perfectly in his book “Sleep Smarter” by highlighting how society seems bent on destroying sleep.
Wondering how? Well…Sleeping with screens, artificial lights, and crazy demands on our time, just to name a few. Think about it, sleep is one of the first things to go when we’re pressed for time. And our way of dealing with all of this is to grab a nap here and there to catch up; especially on the weekends.
If you’re serious about getting fitness results and giving yourself a competitive advantage, then zone in on your sleep.
Exercise
Not convinced? Well, let’s start by looking at the connection between sleep and exercise. Things like weightlifting and body weight exercises create small tears in your muscles. Catching some Z’s allows your body to then repair itself. The reason for this is because sleep is anabolic, and anabolism constructs molecules from smaller units, which literally builds you up. You forfeit the full advantage of this process if you’re not getting enough quality sleep.
Glucose
Being sleep deprived impacts your brain’s glucose level, and glucose is an essential carbohydrate that your brain uses for fuel. This directly impacts the prefrontal cortex, which is the area of the brain where problem-solving, decision-making, and high-level thinking reside. So this is one of the reasons why even though you’ve committed to eating chicken and broccoli, you end up finding yourself grabbing the BBQ Lays chips…or in my case, chocolate chip cookies and more…don’t judge me.
Mobile Devices
And then there’s our phones, tablets, and laptops. We’ve all heard that at night the artificial light from our phones can keep us from falling asleep. But what exactly is the impact of this light? And after a long day, what’s the harm in scrolling through TikTok before bed, right?
Well, it turns out that your body is pretty sensitive to the particular spectrum the artificial light falls within. It ends up affecting the release of melatonin in your body, which makes it harder for you to sleep. And melatonin regulates your body’s internal clock (or circadian rhythm - which tells us when to sleep).
I’m a believer!
Ok, these are just a few things to keep in mind when considering the impact sleep has on you. A few modifications here will leave you feeling, looking and performing better in no time.
