You’ve been training hard at the gym for the past month. Crushing the barbell and smoking WODs. But then all of sudden, you start noticing yourself becoming a bit more sluggish. Even worse, you notice that your strength and conditioning numbers have hit a dreaded plateau. Now before you freak out, the solution is probably more simple than you think: sleep more.
According to a study that explored the relationship between sleep and sex hormone levels, researchers found a direct relationship between the amount of sleep you get each night and your testosterone levels. The more sleep, the higher your testosterone levels. Why does testosterone matter? Testosterone is an important anabolic (read “muscle building”) hormone. When your testosterone levels are down, your body has less capability to recover and repair itself. Poor recovery means poor training the next day. Poor training means little to no gains in fitness. No gains means I become sad.
Strange. The more you sleep, the higher your testosterone levels…
For a really thought provoking video on the importance of sleep on performance, definitely watch the video below!