Sleep plays an important role in your physical health and is essential for building muscle and/or loosing weight. The best diet and workout routine won’t do anything to your body if you’re not getting enough sleep. The importance of sleep for building muscle, loosing weight, and just overall health is all explained here!

Not only will you not make any progress toward you’re fitness goals, you’re brain won’t get the “recharge” needed to feel motivated the next day. 

While asleep, growth hormone is releases and protein synthesis happens. Ill go into more detail about these two below. 

Importance Of Sleep For Building Muscle

Many people don’t know that building muscle while you sleep is actually possible.

Did you know that building muscle is a great way to burn fat? Not only to lose weight but also to maintain a healthy physique throughout your life.

Weight loss is the biggest attention grabber when it comes to articles and advice on how to stay healthy.

We all know that the excess fat around our bellies is not only unhealthy, but it can also be downright dangerous. 

You can build muscle the standard way, by weightlifting and doing strength training exercises, which is essential for any muscle building regimen.

Another time of your day that can be spent on this goal is some of our best time and that is when we are sleeping.

Sleep is important for building muscle so you want to make sure you’re getting enough of it!

Protein Before Bed

Eating protein before going to sleep is very important when it comes to building muscle while sleeping. 

Lean proteins like white fish, plain Greek yogurt, low-fat cottage cheese, beans, peas, and lentils are what should dominate your plate when you are trying to build muscle.

As it turns out, those proteins will help your body grow muscle because when your mind is going through REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement) your body is getting its largest surge of growth hormones.

When you have a lot of protein inside you, this growth spurt will be advantageous for your muscle growth.

Importance Of Sleep For The Brain

During sleep, the adenosine (neurotransmitter that produces ATP) levels in your brain start to decline.

The blocking of adenosine in the brain while you sleep actually increases levels of alertness the next day.  

Essentially this means that the while you sleep so you have that mental alertness the next day. This mental alertness is very important if you are doing any type of physical exercise or training the next day. 

Studdies have also shown that motivation levels are the highest when you have high mental alertness.

Take Some Magnesium

You may not know it, but when it comes to health and well-being, magnesium packs a hefty punch.

Magnesium helps regulate stress hormones, balances calcium and phosphorus in our saliva, has a hand in building strong bones, promotes a healthy heart, regulates blood sugar, prevents strokes and inflammation, and boosts immunity.

Magnesium is also a needed electrolyte for sufficient hydration.

That’s not all of it either. When it comes to aid in muscle growth, due to its regulation of stress hormones, this mineral is important for sleep because it helps the body and mind stress less. 

Also, it prevents muscle cramps, which can get in the way of muscle expansion.

You can take magnesium in a supplement or add mineral-rich foods like green leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and many veggies like broccoli, green beans, and peas.

How To Get Great Night Sleep

Now that you know about the importance of sleep for building muscle, lets talk about how we can get a great nights sleep, which is essential if you want to reap all the benefits. 

Your body and brain need to experience 4-5 different stages of sleep to adequately recover and grow properly.

It is important that your body goes in REM sleep, which is achieved after 4-5 stages of non-REM sleep.

During  stage 3 and 4 of sleep your body and brain are at complete rest and this is when memory consolidation occurs, known as REM. 

Try Aromatherapy

Sleep is important if you want your body to produce extra growth hormone. You need to be in that REM stage for the surge in growth hormone.

Aromatherapy is the practice of using essential oils to achieve all kinds of health benefits.

For building muscle when you sleep, a nice relaxing scent like lavender, chamomile, and ylang-ylang in a nebulizing diffuser in your bedroom could do wonders. Learn more here about nebulizers and essential oils.

Shut Off The Devices

When you spend your evenings staring at the television, monitor, smartphone, or tablet then you are going to have a harder time falling asleep and staying asleep.

Shutting off all devices 20 minutes prior to lying down is important for sleep.

This happens because your pineal gland doesn’t produce the right amount of melatonin you need for a functioning circadian rhythm, which is the system that regulates your night time rest.

Because of the glare on your screens, your gland is tricked into believing it’s daytime, so it doesn’t produce the sleep hormones you need.

Turn Down The Temp

It’s easier to fall asleep when the room is between 60 – 67 degrees Fahrenheit.

This helps your internal body temperature reach the perfect level, which can ensure that you get a deep sleep.

When you suffer from disrupted sleep, it can hinder the amount of growth hormone that’s released into your system.

This range of 7 degrees is where your thermostat should be set when it’s bedtime. Otherwise, you risk suffering a night of restless sleep and sweating.

Create A Routine

Have you ever heard that children are easier to handle when they are on a routine? This goes the same for humans of all ages.

When we wake up at the same time and go to bed at the same time every day, it makes for a healthy body and mind.

Once a routine is created, body will automatically know it’s time to go to bed and start to wind down on its own.

Read A Book

Studies have shown that reading a few lines before bed can help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep.

In fact, one experiment conducted at the University of Sussex by Dr. David Lewis found that it takes as little as six minutes for your body to show significant signs of relaxation after reading.

As it turns out, this simple act can lower your stress by 68 percent.

Reading a book will also help improve your cognitive functioning and calm your mind.

Conclusion

Our muscles are not built when we work out, the growth happens during the repair, which occurs after we work out and when we sleep.

Try these tips for building muscles while you sleep.

Combined with a healthy diet and a good workout routine, your body should start taking the shape you want.