If you are into sports, you must be taking good care of your diet. If fitness and health are your priority, you must have adopted healthy eating and lifestyle habits. But, what about your sleep? Don’t you think proper sleep is also an integral part of your fitness regimen? Athletes, sportspersons, and all others who are into regular exercises should pay equal attention to their sleep habits to improve their performance. If you have any doubts about the importance of sleep for exercise, read further to learn the facts.
Reduces risk of injuries
Not getting enough sleep can prevent you from feeling fresh in the morning. It can also reduce your level of alertness. This would result in you missing a step while walking, jogging, or playing any sport. In short, improper sleep can increase your risk of injuries.
On the other hand, having a sound sleep of 8 hours will help you feel fresh and energetic in the morning. It will keep you alert and on your toes while exercising. This would surely reduce your risk of falling or injuring yourself.
Prevents frequent breaks
Exercises are the most beneficial when you perform them on a regular basis. A simple exercise such as walking for 40 minutes a day, for 5 days a week, can improve your health and fitness to a great extent.
However, injuries while exercising can keep you from achieving these benefits. In case you sprain your ankle while walking, you have to take a break for a day or two till the ankle heals completely before you can resume your physical activities.
Many sportsmen also struggling because of strong back pain caused by pressure on the skeleton. This can be significantly lightened by choosing a right mattress. Tips on buying one can be found on sleepissimple.com
If you don’t get enough sleep at night, your risk of injuries while exercising can increase. This would mean you have to stay off the field till the injury heals. It would prevent you from deriving complete benefits of exercising. That is why; you must pay attention to your sleep so that you can achieve the benefits of regular exercising.
Better reaction time
Reaction time is the time taken for you to react to any stimuli. People, who are obese or those who lead a sedentary lifestyle, have a longer reaction time as their body is not equipped with better reflexes or stronger muscles. However, people who exercise on a regular basis have the ability to react in a shorter duration due to their active reflexes and stronger muscles.
This ability can be improved to a great extent by taking proper care of your sleep schedule. Sleep deprivation can reduce your reaction time by producing detrimental effects on your senses and energy levels. Not sleeping well can cause weakness and fatigue during the daytime. This could impair your reaction time and hamper your ability to exercise properly.
Stimulates repair and regeneration
Your sleep is the activity that allows your body some time to repair the damaged parts. Proper sleep can help to rejuvenate your mind as well as body and promote regeneration of the new cells so that they can replace the old, damaged cells. This ensures faster healing of wounds. Sleeping well can prevent worsening of any injury or damage, whether external or internal and thus, enhance your exercise performance.
Stronger immune system
Sleeping well is linked to a stronger immune system. On the other hand, the lack of sleep can affect your immune system, and make you susceptible to illnesses. This can reduce your ability to exercise to the best of your abilities. Hence, it is advisable to ensure your sleep is not hampered due to any reason.
Few mental errors
Being a sportsperson requires you to be fit not just physically but also mentally. Lack of sleep can increase your risk of depression and anxiety. This can have a negative impact on your performance on the field and affect your career.
Sleep loss can also impair your judgment, motivation, memory, focus, and learning abilities. These are the skills whose absence can be counterproductive for your healthy habit of exercising regularly. You can improve these skills simply by ensuring you get an uninterrupted sleep of 8 hours every night on a comfortable medium firm mattress
Being a fitness enthusiast doesn’t mean you exert yourself all day long. Your body needs enough time to rest and repair itself. Minor injuries such as strains and sprains as well as major injuries such as fractures are common among sportspersons. Providing enough time to your body with a sound sleep of 8-hours will help you to continue with your exercises and derive its multiple benefits.
