The muscles of your body always require some rest so that they can grow and strengthen. The muscles of a human body on average need 48 hours or more to recover from any exercise, but this time might not be the same for everyone – some may take more and some even less than this.
How much rest is required?
The rest time for any individual depends on the following six factors:
- The intensity of the exercise
- The rate of recuperation
- Frequency of the exercise
- Duration of the exercise
- Stress
- Nutritional habits.
Think about the following when considering what rest time you may need:
- How much effort you put into your exercise (intensity)
- The speed of recovery of your body (recuperation)
- How often you exercise (frequency)
- For how long you exercise for (duration)
- How much pressure you experience in your daily life (stress)
- What and when you eat (nutrition).
What does rest include?
You can give your muscles rest and relaxation by:
- Sleeping
- Napping
- Taking days off
- Indulging in a hobby or other leisure activity
- Holidaying
- Socialising.
The most important out of these is sleep. Sleep deprivation can cause significant damage to your body, muscles, and brain.
Drawbacks of a lack of sleep
Poor sleep affects your fat storage cells
A bad night’s sleep makes us grumpy and irritable, and we are not able to function at our best. It does the same to our fat storage cells too. Whenever your body is deprived of sleep, it suffers from a condition which is known as “metabolic grogginess”. This term was given by researchers of the University of California after they carried out research of what happens after four days of poor sleep.
In just four days, the body loses its ability to use insulin properly. In fact, the researchers discovered that insulin sensitivity dropped by a whopping 30 percent or more.
It makes you crave food
If you think that hunger is controlled by willpower, then you may want to think again. Two hormones, namely ghrelin and leptin, play a significant role in controlling hunger. More ghrelin means that hunger will be enhanced, whereas less leptin means your stomach will feel emptier.
In the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, research was published which found that sleeping for less than six hours on a daily basis causes your brain to make you feel hungrier by stimulating ghrelin and depressing leptin.
Get your workout sussed
In summary, there is no way to a healthy lifestyle without getting proper sleep, so make sure that you have a good sleeping routine and resting time built into your exercise regime. If you want help to plan the right workout and rest periods for your needs, then why not book a personal training session? At Valkyrie Personal Training and Massage we develop personalised training plans to suit your needs. Call 07973 483314 to get your training plan sorted.
