SLEEP AND
FITNESS - THEY
GO HAND IN
HAND
Most often individuals that are on an exercise
program will pay a great deal of attention to the type
of exercise regime that they are going to follow.
They do a great deal of planning and tracking of
their results. What many of them tend to forget is
that sleep is also a very important part of fitness.
Just as important in fact as the diet.
To begin with, you are going to need the energy that
exercises demands. If you are exercising because of
being overweight than there is a much higher risk of
difficulty for you because of the extra weight and
your energy level is insufficient. This is where having
adequate sleep is beneficial to you.
When you are tired you are lacking energy and then
combined with the extra weight you are just
compounding the problem. The risk here is that you
are not going to be able to put the effort into your
exercise program to get the best of what it has to
offer you.
Another problem that you will run into is because of
the fatigue that is coming from your exercise you are
most likely going to give up after a short period. As
you progress in your exercise, keep a close watch
on your sleep routine. You are going to find that in
time you are going to sleep far better and get more
benefit from the sleep that you do get and you are
going to find that your energy level increases
significantly.
If you are having problems, sleeping it is a
good idea to try to identify what the issues are.
Perhaps you are snacking too close to going to
bed. Alternatively, you may be taking caffeine
such as coffee or chocolate which could be
one of the reasons for your sleeplessness.
You really need to determine just how much
sleep you need. If you are waking up in the
morning feeling exhausted as if you really
haven't had much sleep then you need to
consider a couple of things. One did you go to
bed early enough and get enough hours of
rest. Alternatively, is there a possibility that
your sleep was broken during the evening? It
is important that you identify what the problem
is.
Ideally, you should also have a good physical
checkup to ensure that your tiredness is not
coming from something that is unrelated to
lack of sleep or overweight issues. If you can
set yourself a pattern of going to bed at the
same time every night and rising at the same
time your body will adjust to this and usually
will conform much easier to following good
sleep patterns.