We all know how important sleep is, but did you know that not getting a full 8 hours of sleep can affect your weight loss journey? What is often overlooked is how much sleep impacts your physique, WOD performance, and weight management. Let’s learn more about the importance of sleep and how to manage our weight effectively.
When we lose sleep, we are drastically affecting our endurance, recovery, performance, and strength in the box. Sleep deprivation causes our bodies to work harder during exercise, making the WODs feel more difficult. This also decreases our exercise tolerance, which means that we may struggle with our intensity during a workout. In turn, this creates longer recovery times and increased fatigue.
Looking at the repercussions of the lack of sleep, it travels way beyond the box. Our lack of sleep intercepts the balance of hormones that are in charge of our appetite regulation. Ghrelin - the hormone for hunger - increases, while leptin - the fullness hormone - decreases. This imbalance leads to increased cravings, overeating, and negative food choices that creates a drive to consume more calories when sleep-deprived.
Also, the lack of sleep messes with our sensitivity to insulin, which disrupts the body's ability to regulate blood sugar and could potentially lead to insulin resistance. This in turn poses a risk to weight gain but also could increase the likelihood to develop metabolic conditions. Adding to the hormonal imbalances, we are sabotaging our weightloss goals and making it a harder journey on ourselves.
Our quality of sleep not only affects the gym and everyday life, but ends up being a foundation for achieving our weight loss goals. Achieving good sleep helps release growth hormones, supports muscle development, regulates cortisol levels, and prevents the release of stress hormones. If winding down, and falling asleep is a struggle for you. Check out R&R, our sleep supplement which was specifically formulated to help achieve a calming state so you can fall asleep easily and stay asleep throughout the whole night, waking up fully energized and ready to tackle the day!
