Building muscles is a process that takes a lot of effort. You will exert your body and your muscles will be left needing time for repair. Since you’ve put so much effort into your muscle gaining efforts, you need to make sure you get enough sleep to really make the most of your workout.

There are definitely some negative side effects where gaining muscle is concerned if you aren’t getting adequate rest following your workout. Science shows us that muscles grow when you sleep and those efforts you put in at the gym are actualized when we aren’t moving at all. That’s why rest is so vital to building muscle.

After an hour in the gym, you need to be aware that your muscles will now need substantial recovery time following that workout. This recovery time approximates to eight hours of sleep at night, every night. The more you deviate from this, the more you muscle building efforts will suffer. Rest cannot be stored and saved for later; therefore you must get equal amounts on a regular basis.

There are five stages of sleep and unfortunately the stress of our lives prevents most of us from making it past the second stage. When you wake up feeling tired and drained, this why. If this is the kind of sleep you’re getting on a regular basis, it won’t be very productive in helping you gain and build muscle. Even those with stressful lives can reach these deep levels of sleep so your body can repair, heal, and grow. Practicing meditation, deep breathing, and other stress relieving activities before bedtime can help you sleep better. Avoid eating right before you go to bed, as your body will be busy processing food and not busy readying itself for sleep.

Attaining this deep level of sleep is crucial because it is during this phase that muscle repair happens. While you’re in the deepest levels of sleep, you body can also begin the process of SAID, the Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand. During the time, your body builds your muscles bigger and stronger. This prepares your body for its next workout. You will gain true muscles by reaching the kind of sleep that facilitates this process.

Sleep also providers the additional benefit of burning fat while you sleep. All of these muscle-building activities that occur during deep sleep need energy. This energy comes from the fat stores in your body. Good rest not only helps you build muscle but also helps you burn fat.