Sleep for Fat Loss and Muscle Gain
While recent studies have suggested that you might not actually need a full 8 hours of sleep a night, Get-Fit Guy explains why there is an ideal amount of sleep for optimal fitness performance, fat loss, muscle gain, and more.
Ben Greenfield
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Sleep for Fat Loss and Muscle Gain
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that “seven is the new eight,” explaining that the body may actually need less sleep than the traditionally recommended 8 hours. But if you’re into fitness, exercising, or mental and physical performance, you may want to think again..
There is an ideal amount of sleep needed for fat loss or muscle gain, and for optimizing things like tissue repair, protein synthesis, appetite regulation and growth hormone release. In a previous Get Fit Guy newsletter, I covered the topic of whether sleep could get you more fit, but now it’s time to find out more details about why, and look at exactly how much sleep you should get to efficiently reach your health, performance, fitness, and body composition goals.
From 8 to 7?
Until recently, the National Sleep Foundation had established some good guidelines for sleep based on up-to-date research. They had found that in most adults, sleeping fewer than 7 hours per night is associated with decreased alertness and increased risk for chronic disease, while sleeping more than 9 hours per night is also associated with a shorter life, and a higher risk of chronic disease. Unfortunately, it appears that now, they may also be jumping on board with lower sleep recommendations.
The most recent 7-hours-per-night info reported by The Wall Street Journal, and being adopted by many people, is based on a position has been growing in popularity since 2002, when researchers published this study involving more than 1.1 million people. In that study, they concluded that people who sleep about 7 hours a night live longer than those who get more or less sleep. The scientists reported that sleeping longer than 8 hours a night is associated with health issues such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease (although it’s also possible that these health issues caused the people surveyed to sleep longer, not the other way around!)
How Athletes Sleep
But what the Journal failed to take into account is the enormous need for sleep in people who are exercising frequently, beating up their bodies with weight training and running, and/or engaging in cognitively demanding tasks, like a stressful 8-to-12 hour work day, or a busy family life.
For folks who are engaged in this type of body and brain stress, it may be beneficial to look at the infographic in this article from Fatigue Science: “Why Pro Athletes Sleep 12 Hours A Day”.
Allow me to highlight a few of the quotes from the graphic:
- Usain Bolt, the fastest sprinter on the planet: “Sleep is extremely important to me. I need to rest and recover in order for the training I do to be absorbed by my body.”
- Roger Federer, top professional tennis player: “If I don’t sleep 11 to 12 hours a day, it’s not right.”
- Steve Nash, one of the world’s best basketball point guards: “For me, sleeping well could mean the difference between putting up 30 points and living with 15.”
- Jarrod Shoemaker, professional triathlete: “Sleep is half my training.”
Some of the stats from the infographic are quite interesting, too, including:
- Maximum bench press drops 20 pounds after 4 days of restricted sleep
- With proper sleep, tennis players get a 42% increase in hitting accuracy
- Sleep loss means an 11% reduction in time to exhaustion
- Perceived exertion increases 17-19% after 30 hours of sleep deprivation.
Are you getting the idea that athletes and physically active people may need to sleep more?
In one study, Stanford University basketball players spent several weeks sleeping at least 10 hours a night (compared to their pre-study practice of sleeping 6 to 9 hours a night), and their performance increased significantly, with far faster sprint times and greater shooting accuracy, along with increased physical and mental well-being during both games and practice.
Sleeping for Fitness
Are you getting the idea that athletes and physically active people (and you are physically active, right?) may need to sleep more?
In most cases, hard-charging professional athletes need 10-12 hours of sleep per 24 hour day cycle, and the typical Ironman triathlete, hardcore Crossfitter, marathoner, cyclist, or above-average exerciser needs 7.5-9 hours of sleep per 24-hour cycle. In addition, lack of sleep has been shown to not just affect performance, but also to increase risk for appetite cravings and obesity.
There are two primary reasons for the increased need for sleep in exercising individuals:
- Your nervous system and brain cleans up cellular garbage when you sleep, allowing you to form memories, learn, and come back more cognivively sharp the next day.
- Your body and muscles repair themselves while you sleep, and this process is enhanced by hormonal release that occurs as you are in your deep sleep phases.
If you want to take a deep dive into the science of how your body repairs itself as you sleep, and how important hormones like growth hormones and appetite regulating hormones are regulated when you sleep, then you can read this two part article series I’ve written.
But bottom line: if you’re exercising frequently, then I’d encourage you to ignore the new recommendations for 7 hours, and instead shoot for 7.5 to 9 hours per night, or at least per 24-hour sleep cycle. For example, I typically sleep 8 hours per night, then take another 20-40 minute nap during the day, usually after lunch.
Finally, when it comes to fitness and sleep, the two can complement one another quite nicely, and a good exercise routine can definitely help you sleep better. You can learn exactly how in the article, Can You Exercise To Sleep Better?
If you have more questions about how to sleep for fat loss and muscle gain, then join the conversation over at Facebook.com/GetFitGuy!
Photo of man sleeping courtesy of Shutterstock.com.
About the Author
Ben Greenfield received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University of Idaho in sports science and exercise physiology; personal training and strength and conditioning certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA); a sports nutrition certification from the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), an advanced bicycle fitting certification from Serotta. He has over 11 years’ experience in coaching professional, collegiate, and recreational athletes from all sports, and as helped hundreds of clients achieve weight loss and fitness success.