3 Reasons Better Sleep Can Improve Your Fitness

Working to achieve peak health and fitness requires a huge effort. As soon as you reach one goal, another seems to take its place at the top of the list. With all that, there are the marginal improvements you can make when it comes to getting the most out of your potential. For example, while we all know about the importance of diet and exercise for peak health, how much attention do you give to sleep?

Sleep isn’t just a way to recuperate energy at the end of a long day. The quality and the quantity of rest plays a major role in your health, both physically and mentally. When it comes to improvements in the gym, you’d be surprised the impact a good nights sleep can have on overall health.

Not Sleeping Enough? You’re Not Gaining Muscle

The physical process of building muscle is, in its simplest form, can be a brutal on the body. For this to occur, you have to literally break down your muscles (think micro tears), then let it heal, which in turn, forms stronger fibrous bonds. This healing does not happen immediately, but actually takes place overnight while you are sleeping. In other words, if you’re not getting adequate sleep, you may not get the most out of your workouts. You’ll also find that the next time you hit the gym, you may not be able to do quite as much as before.

Sleep and exercise exist in tandem, in which each benefits the other and gives the best results for both. Not only that, when you get a good night’s sleep, your body will produce the optimum amount of growth hormone, which is essential in delivering the benefits you want.

Quality of Sleep Matters as Much as Quantity

You know how it feels to wake up in the morning, having bedded down at a perfectly reasonable hour but then be overtaken by insomnia. In turn, getting only a few hours of sleep here and a few minutes there. All along, tossing and turning while looking helplessly at the ceiling. Nothing feels quite right in the light of day after a night like that. Most likely, you’ll be grouchy, energy will be low, and even a workout session will not shake that weird feeling.

There are no sure-fire cures for insomnia. There are a few things you can do to make it less likely to happen though. Leave your phone alone for at least an hour before bed; for that matter eliminate all TV and other screen time. In addition, meditation, has been shown to have a positive affect on insomnia. There are other things that you can do as well, but those are a few highly recommended ones.

Exercise Can Help You Sleep: That’s a Good Thing!

A good night’s sleep is beneficial for getting the most out of your workout. The reverse is also true. If you have a regular exercise routine, it should improve the quality and quantity of sleep you’re getting. As long as your diet is well-balanced, your workout should burn plenty of excess energy. In turn, leaving you feeling pleasantly spent at the end of a long day ready for a good night sleep.

It’s great if your workout makes you feel pumped and full of fire. That hyped-up feeling should be left in the gym though. If you’re still experiencing side effects of adrenaline as you get ready to hit the hay, then there is a problem. A series of light stretches at the end of every routine should allow you to get some equilibrium before you get in the shower.

Sleep is vital to any fitness regime, and to all aspects of your physical and mental health. If you find that you are struggling for that essential restful sleep when you go to bed at night, then take every effort to find a way of improving things; including speaking to a doctor if it becomes chronic. Sleeping well is a foundational building block to everything else in life. It is the most important thing in any wellness routine. Follow this advice and work hard to establish your routine, you’ll see great results in the gym and beyond.

Stay Strong Together

The Jefit app comes equipped with a customizable workout planner and training log. In addition, the app has ability to track data, offer audio cues, and share workouts with friends. Take advantage of Jefit’s large exercise database for your strength workouts. Visit our members-only Facebook group. Connect with like-minded people, share tips, and advice to help get closer to reaching your fitness goals. Jefit was named best strength training app for for 2024 by PC Magazine, Forbes and Garage Gym Reviews.

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Michael Wood, CSCS

Michael Wood, CSCS, is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and Content Manager for JeFit app. Michael is a former Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach at the University of Connecticut and Exercise Physiologist at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. He is the Founder of Michael Wood Fitness, named twice to "Top 100 Trainers in America" by Men's Journal and voted Best of Boston by Boston Magazine. Michael previously taught at the University of Connecticut and Boston University. He is the author of TBC30: 6 Steps to a Stronger, Healthier You.