Happy Sunday!
Ahh sleep. We all need it. Like really need it.
ESPECIALLY if we are trying to change the shape of our body and build some muscle. But, do people get enough sleep? I don't think so...
Remember from previous newsletters, we NEED protein in order to build muscle. If
you aren't eating enough protein, all of the hard work you are doing in the gym will simply go to waste by not providing your body the necessary building blocks to ACTUALLY build muscle.
Same goes for sleep! If
you aren't giving your body an adequate amount of sleep each night - then you are leaving a lot on the table. Sleeping is when we ACTUALLY build muscle.
- Not in the gym.
- Not while we are working out.
- Not right after we workout.
- Not throughout the day.
- We can ONLY build muscle while we are sleeping. That's it.
The reason we can only build muscle while we sleep is because it's such an intense and difficult process for our body to undergo
that we need to be completely at rest for that to happen. The process that occurs when we sleep is called protein synthesis, which is defined as:
"The biological process by which cells create proteins, essentially assembling amino acids into specific polypeptide chains based on genetic instructions encoded in DNA"
(Google machine).
Sooo yeah...we need sleep. And a good amount of it if we want our body to repair, get stronger and build some muscle. There's a lot that goes into building muscle. Way
more than just picking up some heavy things at a gym. Heck, I'd even argue thats the easiest part of this entire building muscle thing...walking into a gym or going to a class or a trainer is relativity "easier" than getting in an adequate amount of protein and sleeping an appropriate amount.
Here's how the cycle of building muscle should look in your head:
- Eat carbohydrates to fuel your workouts.
- Strength train with progressive overload to get stronger.
- Eat protein throughout the day - about 1g per LB body weight.
- Get enough sleep to build muscle.
- Repeat the process over and over for the rest of your life.
Have a nice Sunday!
