SLEEP VS. EXERCISE

asallen7

If you weren't getting enough sleep, would you push yourself through a workout or go to bed early and get some rest??? I've been pushing myself, but I think its leading to burnout.

tmcowan

Sleep!!!! Without a doubt, you need your energy for your workouts. if you wear your body down you'll get sick.

cbirdso

Definitely sleep. I've noticed my body will NOT lose weight if I am over tired or over exercised.:grumble:

emersoam

I definitely sacrifice sleep (1.5 hours) so I can run on my treadmill in the morning (4:00-5:15 am). I probably average 6 hours of sleep per night. And yet...I'm pretty high energy and don't feel tired (most of the time). I think you need to listen to your body, because some people need more sleep and some are fine with a bit less.

I wouldn't choose exercise if I were getting 5 hours of less or less! That's for sure.

CakeFit21

I almost never recommend skipping a workout unless it's for sleep! You can't keep pushing and expect your body to perform. Your muscles won't rebuild, you won't lose weight, you'll retain water. It's all bad. Plus, if you burn out and stop exercising altogether what's the point of all the hard work you did up until that point??? Take a rest, come back and kick some @ss!

fitnesspirateninja

I agree with listening to your body. If you feel close to burnout, get some rest. If you think the workout will give you more energy, go for it.

cutmd

When I'm tired I will typically shorten my exercise to 30 minutes. The days I sleep for that extra 30 minutes undone feel as awake as when I work out

binary_jester

You can decide for yourself

Lack of Sleep

A study in the Annals of Internal Medicine showed that if you cut your nightly sleep from 8.5 hours to 5.5 hours, you lose proportionally less fat. Overweight dieters who cut their caloric intake by 10% lost about the amount of weight, 6.6 pounds, but the type of weight was very different.

Dieters who got a full night’s sleep lost 3.1 pounds of fat and 3.3 pounds of fat-free body mass. When they cut back their sleep – sleeping 3 hours or less – only a quarter of the weight lost was fat. Those sleeping less lost an average of 1.3 pounds of fat and 5.3 pounds of fat-free mass.

Research shows 75% of weight lost by sleep-deprived dieters was protein. Worse, it is a cascade effect. Lean muscle raises your metabolism. Lack of sleep obviously impedes that.

Also, people who slept less felt hungrier due to a higher production of ghrelin, a hormone that triggers hunger, reduces energy expenditure and promotes fat retention. The test we performed in a controlled environment, so subjects were unable to “pig-out”. Binging may be worse due to ghrelin release.

dctucker

Just read an article today in the NY Times (Boston Globe?) reporting on a study on this very topic. In a nutshell, people that got proper sleep lost more weight. Try hard to get a full 8 hours... If you're working out well, you're increasing your metabolism, and yes, your body is burning calories when you sleep.

I've been using a BodyMedia Fit for about a week, and it says I burn 90-100 calories/hour while asleep.

kewkdb

If you weren't getting enough sleep, would you push yourself through a workout or go to bed early and get some rest??? I've been pushing myself, but I think its leading to burnout.

I'm pushing myself 7-days a week under whatever conditions are thrown at me. I want exercise to be one of (if not the) most important things in my life. I want it to get to the point that not exercising feels bad.

richiefixo

trust me that will happen very soon hehe.....i feel terrible on my rest day lol eventually i end up going for a light run or some sort of exercise...hehe

but on a more serious note....if you want to loose healthy weight and speed up your metabolism as well sleep is essential at least 7 hours of it. Dont forget that when you sleep you are also fasting so your body is eating up those fat stores!! so the more sleep the more fat you burn doing nothing! that combined with your killer workout at the gym = ultimate Fat Burn and weight loss! make sure you eat when you wake up though ...


Goodluck on your weight loss mission!

pinksocks73

I work 12 hr night shifts (7p-7a) and a part time job (0400-til about 0800) on all my off mornings, so I am *perpetually* tired....I have to push myself thru workouts.

JLeeAlton

If you weren't getting enough sleep, would you push yourself through a workout or go to bed early and get some rest??? I've been pushing myself, but I think its leading to burnout.

I'm pushing myself 7-days a week under whatever conditions are thrown at me. I want exercise to be one of (if not the) most important things in my life. I want it to get to the point that not exercising feels bad.

I am at the point.. I can't rest on a rest day unless I absolutely have too. I am addicted to exercising!