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The saying “70% diet, 30% exercise” is already familiar to most people. Scientific diet combinations with appropriate exercise undeniably show obvious effects on fat loss and muscle gain. However, many people still don’t achieve their desired results, and one of the reasons is ignoring the equally important element of sleep.
Those who have participated in Centaur’s fat loss camp know that besides eating and exercising, adequate sleep is also a key component that Centaur repeatedly emphasizes in the fat loss camp. Centaur’s online camp strictly requires: everyone must go to bed before eleven o’clock and guarantee at least seven hours of sleep.
Scientific Fat Loss = Adequate Sleep + Balanced Diet + Appropriate Exercise!
Why emphasize sleep?
Good sleep leads to earlier departure of obesity. Adequate sleep can take your fat loss results to the next level. Many domestic and international studies have been conducted on this aspect, so let’s look at the data.
Research from the University of Denver found that “when athletes have adequate sleep, it can improve exercise ability, accelerate reaction time, and help regulate mood.” Without adequate sleep, the body’s response becomes sluggish, and exercise effectiveness declines sharply.
A survey from Cornell University Medical College shows that for every 30-minute reduction in sleep time, continued for one year, the risk of obesity increases by 17%, while the risk of insulin resistance increases by 39%.
In a 16-year survey involving 70,000 people, Patel and his colleagues found that people who sleep less than 5 hours a day are 30% more likely to be overweight compared to those with normal sleep patterns.
Research scholar Sanjay Patel has also stated: “At least 20 studies indicate that less sleep leads to more weight gain.”
Sleep Affects Leptin (LP) Secretion
The hypothalamus is the higher neural center that regulates visceral activity and endocrine activity. It can control food intake, but it doesn’t issue any commands directly. Instead, it commands through feedback from leptin and ghrelin.
Leptin, also known as LP, nicknamed “obesity hormone,” “slim protein,” or “anti-obesity factor,” is secreted by adipose tissue. Skeletal muscle, endometrium, brown fat, and other organs and tissues are its territories.
Ghrelin is a peptide produced in the stomach that can regulate appetite, food intake, and body composition. Its territory is in the stomach.
When our stomach doesn’t have food coming in, ghrelin will signal to the hypothalamus, and the hypothalamus will issue the command that we’re hungry and should eat. After eating, ghrelin stops reporting to the hypothalamus, and at this time, leptin will tell the hypothalamus that you’re full and don’t need to eat.
If we lack sleep, it will reduce leptin levels and increase hunger hormone secretion, leading to increased hunger and a higher probability of eating.
This is also why people want to order takeout late at night.
Adequate Sleep Helps Metabolism
Our bodies are constantly metabolizing, but at different times, the mode of metabolism in the body is different. At night, especially approaching dawn, the body is mainly in the process of clearing internal waste, which is very important for the human body.
During sleep, the body checks all organs and bones. If there are abnormalities, the body will automatically adjust during sleep. Adequate sleep also promotes metabolism.
Therefore, ensuring 7-8 hours of sleep daily is also very beneficial for health.
Adequate Sleep Helps Muscle Growth
During sleep, various hormones are secreted vigorously, many of which are key hormones for muscle growth.
Growth hormone, which is generally secreted abundantly during deep sleep at night, plays a crucial role in repairing muscle fiber damage after exercise.
After working out during the day, people usually experience intense muscle pain because muscle fibers have been damaged. Don’t worry, this is a necessary process for muscle growth. The repair of damaged muscle fibers requires adequate sleep.
If your sleep time is insufficient, your body doesn’t repair enough, and muscle recovery is inadequate. Additionally, if you don’t get enough sleep, you won’t have more abundant energy to deal with the next day’s work, let alone your exercise plan.
How to Sleep Better for Fat Loss?
Sleep indeed has a positive impact on fat loss, but fantasizing about losing weight just by sleeping is wishful thinking. The main approach is to go to bed earlier at night and sleep longer. To achieve this standard, you can do many things.
If you want to lose fat and need more sleep time, you should move dinner time earlier, quit late-night snacks, and don’t think about ordering takeout at nine or ten o’clock. The feeling of fullness after a late-night snack will prevent you from falling asleep.
The correct sleeping posture is also very important. The “lying like a bow” position is a good resting posture: lie on your right side, bend your right leg, straighten your left leg; bend your right elbow, place your palm under your head; straighten your left upper limb and place it on your left thigh.
This sleeping position allows the brain to calm down quickly and enter dreamland soon, ensuring normal metabolism of the body and achieving weight loss effects.
A hot bath before bed is also a good choice. Besides relaxing the body after a tiring day, it can promote blood circulation and accelerate metabolism.
Pre-sleep light exercise is also strongly recommended by Centaur. It not only helps you relax before sleep and accelerates your falling asleep but also provides a fat-burning mini-workout before bed. Why not?
To make your muscle gain and fat loss plan more effective, put your phone aside and go to bed early!
