Sleep and Muscle Recovery: An Important Connection

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Some people think the road to better health is clear – healthy diet and regular exercise. However, they’re not all you need to make progress on the journey to better health. High-quality sleep in the right amount is key to your overall health and fitness, but it especially affects muscle recovery.

What Happens to Your Muscles While You Sleep?

Muscle damage isn’t all bad. To build bigger, stronger muscles, you have to create micro-tears in the muscle tissue. As the body repairs the damage, it grows more muscle to meet the demand. While you sleep, your body gets busy doing this important work, but it needs at least seven to nine hours of sleep to work at peak efficiency.

It’s not just the amount of sleep you get but the right kind as well. You cycle through five sleep stages throughout the night. The first two stages are considered light sleep wherein you’re easily awakened and your brain waves are similar to daytime. However, the healing portion of the night starts when you enter stage 3 sleep, the first of the deep sleep stages.

It’s during this time that the body releases growth hormone (GH), which is essential to muscle repair. The body needs a surge of growth hormone during the first sleep cycle of the night.  Instead of the initial surge during the first stage 3 cycle of the night, sleep deprivation causes the highest amount of growth hormone to be released during the second sleep cycle. This change may sound small but it alters the body’s ability to fully repair muscles.

The results of a study published in Sleep Medicine suggest that getting less than eight hours of sleep can hinder muscle repair, causing prolonged problems with muscle contractions. Your sleep needs may be more or less but getting the right amount of sleep keeps the correct GH levels and allows your body to make full muscle repairs in a shorter amount of time.

How to Get the Rest You Need

Getting enough sleep can take some effort and patience, but your health is worth it. Start by taking a good look at your sleep environment. If you’re waking with aches and pains throughout the night, your mattress might not support your sleep style or weight. Test out mattresses to find one that feels good and stays within your budget.

You can also develop habits that support good sleep, including:

• Keeping a Consistent Sleep Schedule: Your sleep-wake cycle is controlled by your circadian rhythms, which are largely regulated by exposure to light and dark. A consistent sleep schedule supports these natural rhythms. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day including weekends.

• Reducing Blue Light: Electronics and high-efficiency light bulbs often give off a bright blue light that suppresses sleep hormones. Turn off your screens two to three hours before bed and remove high-efficiency bulbs from the bedroom to prevent sleep disruptions.

• Eating Healthy and Smart: You not only need to eat healthy foods but eat them at the right times. Avoid heavy meals before bed. If you need a late-night snack, help yourself to foods like bananas, almonds, and yogurt that aid in the production of sleep hormones.

Give yourself a step up in your physical fitness by making sleep a priority. Not only will your body feel better but you’ll think more clearly and enjoy a happier, healthier lifestyle.

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