How well we sleep has a direct impact on our health and also our lifestyle. It will greatly affect how well we do with regards to being fit and healthy. You see, sleep is the time that our bodies make use of in order to replenish our energy and get the body back to its optimum state once you are awake.
Something that you might have heard which can give you a glimpse of just how important good sleep is the fact that fitness experts recommend that you get at least 8 hours of sleep every night when you are working out. This is because our bodies are made to replenish the energy stock and revitalize itself during the time that we sleep.
Another thing that you may have heard from fitness experts is that your muscles actually grow and get bigger when you sleep. This assertion is also true to a very large extent. Our muscles get torn when we exercise, and these muscles repair themselves and get bigger during the time that we sleep.
On top of muscle recovery and muscle growth, proper sleep is very important when it comes to being able to function properly with regards to daily activities. Let us now take a look at just some of the things that are very reliant on good sleeping habits, things that are very important in daily life and daily functioning.
Poor Sleep Equals Unhealthy Body Weight
Having a poor sleep schedule is linked very strongly to the gain of weight. People who sleep poorly and for shorter periods of time are much more likely to gain weight than those of us who are able to enjoy a proper sleeping schedule.
In fact, studies have shown that having a sleep duration that is short is one of the main factors that cause obesity. These studies have been able to determine that about 89 percent of children and about 55 percent of adults are much more likely to get obese if their sleep duration is too short.
Some of the main reasons as to why weight gain is linked to improper sleeping schedule and habits is due to its effect on the hormones of the body and also because it decreases the need and motivation to exercise. A person who exercises vs a person who does not exercise, who is more likely to be fit and healthy?
The answer should be obvious, it is the one that exercises. Therefore, we can see just how important sleep is in getting to a healthy weight and then being able to manage it properly. If you are thinking of losing weight, then getting good and quality sleep is of absolute vital importance to us.
Linked to Good Concentration and Productivity
It really should not come as a surprise that a lot of the functions of the brain are reliant on a whole host of various factors and sleep happens to be one of the important factors in determining the functioning of the brain. A lot of the things that will be impacted positively with good sleep includes better concentration levels, better cognition, higher productivity and also better performance overall.
Conversely, almost all of these things are affected adversely if the person in question is not being able to get enough sleep. There has been a study conducted on medical interns that can serve as a good example.
Medical interns who have a traditional schedule and also have extra working hours that comprise a total of more than 24 hours were found to make about 36 percent more serious types of medical errors than did their counterparts who got a lot more sleep.
So, as we can clearly see from the above paragraphs, sleep is of absolute vital importance when it comes to being able to perform at your optimum level and also with regard to being healthy in general. Let us now take a look at a particular method that can really help you get better sleep.
Light Therapy
Light therapy is a type of therapy that has gone from being in the fringes of the fitness and health industries to being something that your favorite celebrity uses these days. This form of therapy has gotten immensely popular and it really is no surprise that this has happened. The list of benefits that can be derived from this type of therapy is definitely beyond the scope of this article to cover but just know that the list is very extensive and exhaustive.
Light therapy can really help us get better sleep by making sure that we get enough vitamin D into our bodies that it required in order to function properly and also by regulating the body clock, or as it is also known as, the circadian rhythm, Let’s break down these two things in order for you to fully comprehend just how beneficial light therapy is to making sure that you are getting enough sleep.
Our bodies need enough exposure to sunlight and it is also heavily reliant on this exposure to sunlight to get the Vitamin D that the body needs. In many cases, a person may not be able to spend enough time outdoors in order to get the sunlight into their bodies. Then there are also parts of the world where there is no natural sunlight for months on end. Light therapy can definitely help in these cases as what it does is basically replicate the natural light of the outdoors in the indoor environment.
Then it can also help us maintain a good circadian rhythm. When you are getting enough exposure to light during the day, your body will be able to fall asleep much more easily when it is nighttime.
