Did you know your muscles don’t grow at the gym? They actually grow while you’re recovering from all that hard work at the gym. You already know that a proper diet and intense exercise is important for muscle growth but sleep is equally if not more important and many people tend to over look this.

Muscle recovery primarily happens in your sleep. When you’re at the gym you break your muscles down by creating micro tears. This muscle tissue is repaired during your sleep.

*Tip* (Take a slow digesting protein supplement/food like casein protein or cottage cheese to fuel your muscles while you sleep)

Less sleep = Lower glycogen levels. Glucose is the sugar in your body that is responsible for energy levels. While we sleep blood glucose gets stored in your muscles in the form of glycogen but when we don’t get enough sleep they don’t get nearly enough glycogen replenished which will impact your workouts negatively.

Avoid drinking too much before bed time. Getting intoxicated can reduce your testosterone by as much as 70% and new muscle mass formation is lowered considerably as well. It also hinders sleep quality so think of the impact a few cocktails will have the following day!

So how much sleep is needed? Each individual is different but the magic number seems to be around 7-9 hours with athletes being on the higher end of the scale allowing more time for recovery.