How to Get Better Sleep

Do you sleep a full 8 hours per night every single night? Many people don't. As much as you and I would like to, we both know that this is challenging for most of us. Getting enough sleep is paramount to optimal health and fitness but why is it so difficult for us to do sometimes? In today’s society it is all too common for people to be dragging themselves through the day on just 5 or 6 hours of sleep a night. In addition to simply feeling better, there are many well known benefits to getting at least 7-9 hours of quality, uninterrupted sleep every night- improved memory, alertness, reduced inflammation and improved heart health.

Furthermore, for those that are health conscious and fitness minded the amount of sleep a person gets also has great impact on body weight and the ability to shed those extra pounds.

Not getting enough sleep has been shown to reduce metabolism by inhibiting the body’s ability to process and store carbohydrates, and to properly regulate hormone secretion.

The two hormones that are key in this process are ghrelin and leptin. “Ghrelin is the ‘go’ hormone that tells you when to eat, and when you are sleep-deprived you have more ghrelin,” says Michael Breus, PhD, author of Beauty Sleep and the clinical director of the sleep division for Arrowhead Health in Glendale, Arizona. “Leptin is the hormone that tells you to stop eating, and when you are sleep deprived you have less leptin.” Though there is research that suggests you can make up for lost sleep to regain some of the benefits (sleeping in on the weekends to compensate for a busy week), when it comes to controlling body weight it is crucial to consistently get 7-9 hours of sleep every night.

For guys looking to increase size and strength sleep is equally as important. Getting less than five hours of sleep a night has been shown to decrease testosterone levels by as much as 15%. Combine that with the lack of energy and stamina that comes with being sleep deprived and results from hard work in the gym will be minimized.

Make an effort to get to bed earlier. Not only to improve your overall health, feel better and be more energized, but to help you reach your fitness goals as well.

Another solution to not sleeping enough is to get your butt into the gym and train with me. If you are not tired by the time we are done please let me know and I would be more than happy to have you run some wind sprints or do pushups until you get sleepy. If you have not been into the gym in a while please give me a call to set up your next appointment and together we can make this your healthiest happiest year ever.

Have a great day! Craig Chapin