Sleep is For Losers
From the moment the alarm clock goes off, the fast pace of our environments leaves us with little time for ourselves. No wonder we think sleep is for losers.
Not getting enough done in the day leaves us up late at night working on things that get done last minute, and as a result, our sleep is sacrificed.
Type A personalities usually have this problem as their brains have problems shutting off at night, leading to early wakefulness in the morning and a lack of deep, quality sleep.
In contrast, elite athletes that have high pressures to perform not only get the required amount of hours of sleep, but they surpass the average by 3-4 extra hours each night.
While that fact makes us mere mortals feel horrible about our current sleeping habits, there’s a lot we can learn from those who take their sleep seriously.
Those that get quality hours of sleep each night perform better in decision-making skills, creativity, attentiveness, and even strength.
Making slight improvements in any one of these areas can change anyone’s physique dramatically over time.
Why You Should Be Aiming for 8 Hours of Sleep
Everyone knows the consequences of a bad night of sleep; lethargy, poor ability to focus or concentrate, mental fogginess, and brief lapses in attention (see micro sleeping).
Considering that these are the effects of poor sleep for the average person, you can imagine the damage that can be done to a weightlifting athlete.
A weightlifter that’s been deprived of sleep will first notice that his major lifts will start to suffer. After 4 days the average bench press can be decreased by 20lbs, regardless what time that day you worked out.
Sleep deprivation also effects how well we use our brain’s mental faculties to gauge feedback from the actions that we’re performing.
This is a critical skill for weightlifters as you have to make fine adjustments to your form when lifting heavy weights in order to properly activate and isolate muscle groups.
Rushing through this process will not only waste your efforts in the gym, but you could be putting yourself at great risk of injury when exercising this way.
If you don’t notice your poor execution of exercises, you’ll definitely start to see a steady decline in your motivation levels. Low motivation is one of the top reasons why people quit working out before they see any significant results (see How to Avoid Burnout in the Gym).
Poor quality of sleep effects our motivation levels greatly because of the stages of sleep that occur when we’re in an unconscious state.
The most important stage of sleep is REM (rapid eye movement sleep), which helps balance our serotonin and dopamine neurotransmitters, both responsible for our overall happiness and moods levels while we’re awake.
How Elite Athletes Approach Sleep
Our bodies recover and rebuild the most when we’re resting, which is why elite athletes take their sleep so seriously.
Quality sleep can be sometimes difficult when you frequently travel, have sudden changes in your schedule, or just placed in odd circumstances (ex. sleeping in the airport after a delayed flight).
To get the best sleep possible, many traveling athletes attempt to make optimal conditions for rest by controlling their sleeping environments. This is can be done by requesting temperature settings, blackout curtains, or rooms completely isolated from noise interruptions.
Athletes are adamant about quality sleep because sometimes this may be the only winning edge over competitors outside of the weight room or the training facilities. Our mental faculties need proper rest in order to function at their highest levels.
The Wrap Up
Quality sleep isn’t taken seriously by some because how we’ve become conditioned to working late into the night. When we sacrifice sleep, our cognitive functions suffer and we become prone to ineffective workouts and low motivation levels. Making rest and recovery your top priority can greatly improve your results from exercise/training to give you an advantage over others that many will take for granted.
