Why You Should Prioritize Sleep Over Working Out

Have you ever been out for dinner or at a party and you realize how late the night is getting. You start checking your watch and counting backwards in your head.

“If I’m home by 10:30 pm, I can be in bed by 11:00 pm and I’ll wake up at 5:30 am to make it to my 6:00 am spin class. That’s 6.5 hours of sleep – I’m good.”

Sound familiar? Ya, me too.

Working in the corporate world for so many years, I was no stranger to the 6:00 am workout class. That was often the only way I knew I would be able to get my workout in. And I still firmly believe in early morning workouts. I even have a post about how you can start making them part of your routine.

The problem is, however, when it comes to reaching your health and fitness goals, those crack-of-dawn wake-ups may not actually benefit you as much as that snooze button will.

While I was in school at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, I learned all about the importance of sleep on our overall health and furthermore how it affects our fitness abilities. 

Even more important, it is not only the amount of sleep, but the quality of sleep, that can significantly help or hurt our health goals. If we get into bed at a decent hour but don’t have a restful sleep, we can experience the same negative impacts on our health. 

So how and why does sleep impact our workouts?

For one, getting a good amount of quality sleep improves our brain function. Ultimately this will allow us to have better focus during our workouts and get more out of our sweat sessions. The more mental strength you have can also greatly increase your physical strength. If more sleep means you can’t fit in as many workouts, you can feel better about knowing you are getting more out of fewer sessions since your focus is better.

In addition, if you are looking to get stronger and build muscle, sleep is your friend. While we are asleep, protein synthesis occurs, which is a vital process to muscle repair and growth. 

Lastly, if we are tired from a short or restless sleep, our brains are triggered to crave sugar to keep us awake. Studies have also shown that a lack of sleep increases our appetite. Put those two together and you are much more likely to reach for quick and junky foods that can hinder your fitness goals.

As a health coach grad, I am well aware of the benefits of sleep, yet as a personal trainer, my hours don’t exactly allow me to practice what I preach. A typical day for me means out of the door at 5:30 am to train my first client, and back home around 9:30 pm after my last client. So while I am not always able to get the most amount of sleep, I do focus on making sure that what I do get is good quality.

Recently, my friends at Casper gifted me with a brand new mattress to help me get the most out of my shuteye. You have probably already heard of Casper or have seen those blue and white boxes popping up here and there and that is because Casper mattresses are becoming wildly popular thanks to their unique technology and delivery service.

The Casper mattress has exclusive memory foam with an added fourth layer for maximized durability and comfort. They also have new technology designed to keep your body temperature cooler, which, as someone who also suffers from night sweats, I know is key to a comfortable sleep. 

Probably the most popular feature of Casper is their delivery system. Firstly, instead of trekking to those massive show rooms, you can shop and order your mattress online. Once your mattress arrives, you might be wondering where it is? Yup, it’s in that small blue and white box – just open it up. Worried, that you haven’t tried it out yet? Casper has a 100 day full refund and return policy so you can purchase your mattress with “no springs attached!”

Thanks to Casper I am able to make the most out of my sleep and in turn, get the most out of my workouts. If you are like me and struggle to get enough hours, check out www.casper.com for how you can maximize the benefits from the time you do get in bed. 

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