Sleeping is the most important thing that you do every day. It might sound dumb that the most important thing you do is lie down and not do anything, but it's true. The results you see in the mirror at the gym are only partly due to the hard work that you put in there. A lot of your results come from proper recovery and adequate sleep.
Think about it. What are you doing at the gym? You are tearing your body down at a chemical and mechanical level. You are depleting your body's various energy sources, and physically ripping apart your muscle fibers. However, it's not this damage that produces larger and stronger muscles. If all you did was break your body down, you would tear yourself into nothing.
The recovery stage is where the magic happens. While you sleep, your body takes the food you eat and gives your muscles more energy. It's during recovery that your muscle fibers heal from the damage you dealt in the gym and then grow stronger as they adapt. Both testosterone and growth hormone levels are highest during sleep, but only during the deepest part of the sleep cycle.
Human beings aren't machines, even if we wish we were. The human body needs time to recover after a long day of activity.
It's not just your body that's fatigued after a long day; it's also your mind. At the same time your muscles are healing and growing stronger, your brain is rinsing, cleaning, and getting rid of all the gunk built up during the day. Your brain is unique in the fact that it has no true drainage system to eliminate waste. Special fluid that covers your brain and spine filters in and does the job of flushing all the toxins out of your brain. The incredible thing is that this fluid exchange and cleansing of the brain can only happen while you sleep. During the day the Cerebral Spinal Fluid stays motionless, and your brain starts to build up chemicals and toxins that inhibit long term performance.
If there is one thing that college students don't get enough of, it's sleep. Who honestly goes to bed before 12am in college? On average, college students only get about 6-7 hours of sleep a night. This is way below what you need to fully recover, and when you become sleep deprived you cannot make it up. Sleeping for 14+ hours both Saturday and Sunday will only get you so far.
It's important to develop healthy sleep habits so you can get the most out of the short time you have.
Make sure you keep your room dark. Having light from your computer or phone on during the night can inhibit your pineal gland from properly producing melatonin, which is the chemical that helps you fall asleep and stay asleep.
Try to stay away from your computer or phone at least a half an hour before you go to bed. By doing this you will help signal your body to start getting ready to go to sleep. Keeping a consistent routine before bed and when you wake up will make falling asleep and getting up in the morning much easier.
Try your best to fall asleep and wake up at the same time every day, even on the weekends. This will get your body in it's own little groove, and help you get the most out of your time in bed.
Do your best to use your bed for sleep only. Watching TV or doing other things in bed that require a lot of brain power will cause you to begin associating that space with activity, and ultimately make falling asleep more difficult.
You spend a third of your life asleep. That's more than any single activity you will do your entire life. Devote sleep the attention it deserves, and make sure to prioritize it ahead of video games, Netflix, and other things that may feel relaxing but don't provide the same effects as rest.
Just getting an extra two hours of sleep a night will transform your entire life before your very eyes. Stress will become easier to deal with. Work will be completed quicker and more efficiently. Your ability to live in the moment is completely dependent on how you feel and interact with the world around you, and sleep is one big step in improving this connection.
