Sleep To Grow

Do you wonder why you feel so tired in the morning, why you can't make that last set of your work out count, why you can't focus, why you don't have enough energy to make it past 2pm or why you feel fatigued? It's probably because you're suffering from lack of sleep. Sleep-most people love it, but as much as we value it, not all of us get enough of it. Did you know that North Americans only get an average of 6.9 hours of sleep a night when we really should be getting at least 9 hours? And although we always tell ourselves that we'll catch up on our sleep the next day or during the weekend, we all know that it almost never happens. Every night it seems that we go to bed too late and wake up early.

Sleep is not only a natural and healthy human act, it helps restore and build muscle. And for a person who is transforming their physique, sleep (rest) is just as important as the healthy meals and the early trips to the gym. After all, it is the time in between workouts when your body strengthens, regenerates and repairs muscle tissue. Whether you're into body building or not it is still important to get the right (or optimum) amount of sleep with respect to your age.

Optimum Sleep is defined by the amount of hours one sleeps in relation to the quality of sleep one gets. For example, a person 12-18 years of age requires 9 hours of sleep per night, a person 19-65 requires 8 hours, and those over 65 need 7-8 hours of sleep. Chances are you're not getting enough, thus leaving you feeling lethargic. Over half of the population isn't getting the right amount of sleep. In a world where services are available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, sleep has become underrated and that is why there is a consistent rise in people developing high blood pressure and high blood sugar levels-enough to trigger type II diabetes.

If you experience any of the following symptoms of poor sleep on a regular basis, you may be suffering from sleep deprivation due to stress:

1. Trouble falling asleep.
2. Takes you longer than 15 minutes to fall asleep.
3. Wake up frequently throughout the night.
4. Wake up and can't fall back to sleep.
5. Wake up feeling tired.
6. Wake up with chronic aches and pains.
7. Sleeping less than six hours or more than nine hours.
8. Having trouble relaxing when you sleep.

This article focuses on helping you optimize your sleep by providing you some helpful tips to aid in your workout efficiency, speed the recovery of your muscles and polish your heath regime.

Some tips to achieving optimum sleep are:

Tip #1
Invest in a decent mattress and pillow
Seriously, a nice, decent and comfortable mattress and pillows would rank up there as one of the most worthwhile investments you'll ever make. Think about it, you'll spend one-third of your life sleeping, so why not sleep comfortably? Spend the money, your body needs to be properly supported when resting. Why would you want a cranky, old, smelly bed that keeps you up at night more than keeps you asleep. A good, comfortable bed keeps you from tossing and turning and keeps your back nice and straight preventing undue stress and discomfort. A good pillow also keeps your head and neck sufficiently supported helping prevent you from snoring, which is caused by the blockage of air passages-inhibiting easy and normal breathing.

Tip #2
Develop a Routine
Establish a routine by training your internal clock with a sleep schedule. Go to sleep and wake up at the same time each day; a regular sleeping pattern will work to improve the quality of sleep that you experience. Getting at least 8-9 hours of sleep a night will not only make you feel more energetic, productive and efficient it will also increase your alertness by at least 25%.

Tip#3
Catch up if u can
We've all promised ourselves to catch up on our sleep and never ever really pulled through. The end result is an accumulation of countless hours of lost sleep that have rendered our body battered and beaten with stress, lack of energy and fatigue. How do we catch up on lost sleep? Power naps of about 20-30 minutes 8 hours after you woken up in the morning will help make up for lost time. However, don't get into the habit of relying on power naps to catch up on your sleep, because nothing beats a good 9-hour continuous stretch of bed-rest.

Tip #4
Exercise hard
A good, intense training workout not only releases stress and burns fat, it also improves sleep quality by tiring you out more effectively. When you release stress through your workout you also release anxieties that you experience day-in and day-out, therefore setting you up for a good nights sleep. However, experts believe that training close to bedtime is counter productive, as workouts increases body temperature as well as promote an endorphin surge which could keep you up when you should be sleeping.

Tip#5
Healthy nutrition
By eating healthy and drinking lots of water you are helping yourself stay away from foods that are rich in sugar or drinks that are high in caffeine, alcohol or other stimulants. All of these common substances can prevent you from falling asleep or achieving the continuous quality rest that your body requires.

In conclusion, remember that it doesn't matter how much weight you can lift, how far or how fast you can run, how long you stay in the gym, or how great your nutrition is-in order for your body to change and develop into the body that you've always wanted, you have to get sufficient sleep and rest. The gym is a means to an end and muscle is built during the time of rest and recuperation. So, if you're reading this, look at the time and if you have an early day tomorrow shut the computer down and get some rest because you can always read this again tomorrow. Goodnight!