0

Why Sleep Is Important For Building Muscle

When you are sleeping your body is still hard at work, and since it no longer has the need to deal with the every day stresses you put on it, it uses this time to repair and prepare you for another day.

Your body also produces a slight amount of growth hormone which will give you a boost in size. In addition, a good amount of sleep will mentally prepare you for another day which means your workouts will have more intensity since you will not be mentally fatigued.

How Much Sleep Do I Need To Build Muscle

The trick with sleeping is ensuring your body doesn't become catabolic during the sleep cycle. While more sleep is always going to be beneficial, there is a point where your body starts burning more energy and turns catabolic. 

For example, studies show that if you sleep 8-10 hours then during that time if you sleep on an empty stomach your body will have run out of reserves and will start to "eat itself" for energy. This means that if you are planning on sleeping for such a long time you should have a good sized meal so your body has something to digest while it's repairing itself.

The same goes for if you are planning on sleeping for even longer than that. The longer your sleep the more food you should be consuming. A good way around eating a full meal before bed is to consume casean protein before hand. Casean protein is slow to digest making very beneficial before bed.

The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not always reflect the views of Bodybuilding Nation.
Comments
There are no comments. Add one below!