The three key factors in developing muscle are nutrition, training, and rest. Although many of us focus on the first two aspects of muscle building, the rest aspect can be widely overlooked. This is counterproductive to anything you may have achieved during the day because as we sleep our energy consumption is lowered which allows us to properly process the food we have consumed. This, in turn, allows our bodies to repair and regenerate tissues damaged during training by releasing a growth hormone.
The release of the growth hormone is vital to maintaining tone in the muscles, keeping fat in the cells and allowing our bodies to fully recover from intense workouts, however, it is only released during the physically restorative phase of non-REM deep sleep.
As your body enters this phase, brain activity reduces, breathing becomes slower and blood pressure drops. As the brain rests, blood supply increases to the muscles, delivering extra oxygen and nutrients to facilitate repair and growth. The pituitary gland also releases a growth hormone which also stimulates tissue growth and repair.
The more intense the workout, the more sleep your body will need to recover effectively. We tend to experience the most restorative non-REM deep sleep phase within the first third of the night, though this can vary from person to person. It is recommended that adults get between 7-9 hours sleep per night, however, one study found that tennis players who upped their sleep to 10 hours per night improved the accuracy of their hits. Regular exercise, in turn, promotes a deeper, higher quality sleep which then, in turn, provides improved energy levels the following day.
If you are unsure whether you are getting enough deep sleep, a sleep monitoring system will provide you with accurate data on your sleep patterns. This data allows you to identify any disruptions to your sleep cycle which means you can work on improving the quality of your rest.
If you would like to find out more about how REM-Fit Sleep Monitoring technology or Zeeq Smart Pillows can help you to get a better night’s rest, please get in touch with our experienced, knowledgeable staff by calling 020 8731 0020 or email us via sales@rem-fit.co.uk.
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