Last Updated on February 10, 2021 by Jeff
Getting enough rest is crucial because it allows your body to repair itself.
Sleep is restorative. It’s a necessary component of good health. You can exercise and eat right but if you don’t get enough quality rest, you can still be sick or become injured easily. When you’re well-rested, you’re better able to handle a strenuous workout. Keep this in mind the next time you get little sleep and force your body to power through the day.
What Makes Sleep Such an Important Part of Good Health?
If you don’t sleep well, it creates a deficiency in your life that can lead to deadly diseases. The National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute notes that there is an increased risk of developing heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, diabetes, and high blood pressure when you lack good quality sleep. It’s a rather dire situation once it’s reached this point because it impairs judgment and inhibits your ability to complete everyday tasks safely and efficiently.
How to Get a Better Night’s Rest
There are many things you can do to rest better. One is to make sure that you don’t work out too close to bedtime. It can interfere with your sleep schedule.
You’ll also want to limit the amount of time you spend on your phone, tablet or computer in the evening. The blue light that is emitted from many electronic devices interferes with the body’s natural sleep patterns. If you’re insistent on having a phone in your bedroom, put it on airplane mode until you get up in the morning.
Also, make sure that the environment that you’re sleeping in is ideal. For example, draw down the blinds or invest in blackout curtains so the light shining through your windows from street lamps or headlights doesn’t wake you up. Keep the temperature comfortable, too, by making sure the room is properly heated or cooled to your liking.
If you’ve worked out hard earlier in the day and feel sore, take a warm bath in Epsom salts. The magnesium serves as a natural muscle relaxer. The temperature of the water helps increase your body temperature, too, which assists you with falling asleep quickly.
Make Sleep a Priority Especially After Working Out Hard
Aim for seven to eight quality hours of sleep each night. Do everything you can to ensure that you get enough rest to give your body time to heal itself. If you don’t, you’ll feel sick and run down quickly. Being ill interferes with your workout schedule and best judgment. The likelihood of you becoming injured because you’re lacking sleep is high, so make it a point to stick to a bedtime routine.
Making it a point to create an environment that welcomes sleep is ideal. It should be a priority especially if you plan on hitting the gym hard the next day. When you’ve had an ample amount of sleep, you’re able to work out optimally without injury.
Your body gets the rest it so desperately needs to recover from the strenuous routine you’ve put it through. Sleep helps you be the best version possible of yourself. Whenever you can, make sure you get at least seven to eight hours of sleep each night so you’re better able to reach your fitness goals.
