If our CNS is over tired exhausted and Stressed because of no rest our Parasympathetic nervous system won ’ t allow for proper digestion , nutrient partitioning or metabolism . The food won ’ t do what we need , our most anabolic and lipolytic tools will be useless . When our body is triggered ( remember metabolic resetting , from previous article of mine ) to survival not recovery and performance priority , biological imperative will always win . “ Eat muscle don ’ t burn fat , store fat ”.
So let ’ s dig into the relationship to training , training effect , recovery and performance , mental ( thinking ) performance and physical performance , and the their dependence on sleep . Current studies show that human beings need for sleep and recovery has been drastically compromised in just our lifetimes alone , most recently more then EVER . We have been reducing the amount of attention paid to sleep and the actual sleep that we have been getting drastically .
Oddly enough we live in a world where we have to do less for ourselves to survive than ever before in recited history . But still we cram more and more and more waking time into daily life much of it is crap we don ’ t need . Video games , technology , social media , social relationships , work , again video games !, drug and alcohol use . Depression from lack of sleep , drug and alcohol abuse has shown a massive increase the last decade due to these factors .
I know people that work eight hours a day and play video games eight hours a day and sleep 4 fill the other 4 with unproductive nonsense and tell me that it ’ s normal for them . What we are doing to ourselves it ’ s completely ludicrous , and it ’ s not being addressed .
Current studies show us that elite athletes , with the intense workload , training multiple times a day and week need even more rest to counter the impact on the bodies ’ organs , physiology , biology , neural function , and mental health .
The Human Performance Project or HPP is advising that Olympic , NCAA and Professional athletes and teams get 9 hours and 15 minutes every night . Our nervous system is a disaster without proper rest . The CNS controls every aspect of performance . Our skills , biomechanical movements , the accuracy of their application , firing sequences of muscles during activity , reflexes and reactions , and countless interrelated physiological functions , including both the central system ( heart and lungs ), and the peripheral system ( muscles ). For all of this to function at our best , well REST IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR . This means quality and amount of sleep .
Six hours or less of sleep per night for only four days in a row has shown to have drastic negative affects on mental acuity , cognition , the firing of muscles and the metabolic factors of the athletes ’ body . We legitimately get slower , dumber , weaker and we burn muscle and store fat . We need to be focussed , process the information from the weight to the muscle quickly i . e . mind muscle connection , we need to be able to fire intensity and have staying power for our repetition volume work out duration etc .
I do not like the word motivation as it is a feeling , ( feelings are fickle do not be “ controlled ” by feelings ), so I ’ ll use discipline . Discipline is the key factor in all of this . So how disappointed do we “ feel ” when all
We ’ ve all heard the recommendation of 8 hours of sleep ; this is not a recent study by any means . It ’ s been around a long time . Long before any scientific studies on sleep were addressed , it ’ s been common knowledge that getting enough sleep and rest is essential for daily life and regular people responsibilities . And this was when people were physically labouring doing everything they could to provide food and shelter , take care of animals and ensure the health of the family and success of that family unit . This was back when this was just regular folk , not the performance athletes of today .
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