Are you not making significant progress no matter how hard you exercise or get good nutrition? Sleep deprivation may be the cause of this.
You don’t need personal training education to realize the importance of rest on one’s health and well-being.
When you get enough hours of sleep, you allow your body to fully rebuild and recover. This is crucial, especially after putting in a lot of work into your training program. There are multiple studies that demonstrate the negative impact of not getting enough sleep.
Here’s what you need to know about being sleep-deprived and how it can affect your fitness and health progress.
Are You Sleep-Deprived?
The usual signs and symptoms of sleep deprivation include the following:
● Frequent yawning
● Excessive sleepiness
● Fatigue during the day
● Irritability
● Mood changes
● Difficulty concentrating and remembering
● Reduced attention span
Possible Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Fitness
Low Energy Levels
One of the primary functions of sleep is to restore the supply of energy, like muscle glycogen, in the body. Sleep deprivation causes your energy levels to drop significantly, making you feel more tired and unable to concentrate.
As a result, you may find high-intensity workouts difficult to complete since they usually require a high level of energy. A shortage of muscle glycogen can reduce the function of your muscles and total work capacity.
Thus, being sleep-deprived can limit your ability to move, especially during resistance or strength training.
Slows Down Metabolism
Being sleep-deprived slows down your metabolism. This, along with the lack of energy to exercise, can increase your risk of weight gain since you are not burning enough calories.
If you are not getting hours of rest, the body’s levels of leptin and ghrelin will be affected. These two hormones are responsible for the feeling of hunger and satiety.
Sleep deprivation is known to decrease leptin and increase ghrelin, making you feel hungrier and even tempted to reach for some junk food. This can sabotage your efforts to maintain a healthy and nutritious diet.
Reduced Muscle Recovery
When you do intense workouts, like weight or strength training, you are causing microscopic tears in your muscles. That’s why rest is a critical component of muscle recovery. It maintains and improves your athletic performance while preventing further injury.
If you don’t get enough sleep, you hinder the repair and growth of your muscles and bones. This can lead to overtraining and the accumulation of acute or chronic injuries.
Sleep deprivation also deprives the body of the time needed to relieve any tightness or tension. It can cause delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).
Contact The National Personal Training Institute
From diet and exercise to sleep and a healthy lifestyle, personal trainers should be well-equipped with the proper knowledge to help clients achieve their fitness goals.
If you want to know how to become a personal trainer in NJ, The National Personal Training Institute offers the knowledge you need to become a certified professional in this industry. Contact us today to learn more.
