There is one thing you can do that will cause you to burn body fat faster than the most expensive fat burner on the market.
There is one thing you can do that will cause you to burn body fat faster than the most expensive fat burner on the market.
Sleep
I’m not joking. When it comes to weight loss, you need to eat less, move more, and get adequate sleep.
If you live by the motto “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” doesn’t apply. Actually, it doesn’t apply anywhere in life. You’ll end up dead faster than anyone else if that’s your motto.
What does lack of sleep do?
1. Elevates stress hormones which can make you store fat around your midsection
2.Decreases testosterone, which can lead to muscle loss, lack of motivation, and (in men) depression
3.Decreases your higher brain functions, meaning your “primitive brain” is going to take over more often leading to poor decisions, especially with food
4.Decreased recovery from your workouts
5.Decreased insulin sensitivity, meaning you don’t handle carbohydrates as well
6.Increased appetite, on average, people who don’t get enough sleep eat an extra 380 calories per day
We can go on and on about sleep, there are whole books written on the subject.
(if you are interested in learning more, check out the book Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. It’s available both as a paperback and audiobook)
So, sleep is pretty important. If you don’t get enough sleep, it’s like you’re trying to swim up river. Except the river is full of white water rapids, and you only know how to doggie paddle.
How much sleep do you need? Most people need between 7-9 hours a night, or 49-63 hours of sleep per week.
What if you can’t get enough sleep?
I hear you, I often don’t get enough sleep on those mornings I need to wake up at 4:30am to get the gym open on time.
Take naps
If you choose this method, shoot for either around 20-25 minutes or 90 minutes for a nap. Anywhere in between and you get the dreaded sleep hangover. Try to do naps consistently
Create a “sleep” bank.
Set a goal of getting 49 hours of sleep at the end of the week. If there are 3 days out of the week that you’ll only get 5 hours, then the other 4 days you need to get 8.5 hours of sleep to get to 49 hours of total sleep. Obviously, this is not ideal and can mess with your circadian rhythm a little bit, but it’s better than gett less than the ideal amount of sleep.
You can’t make it up on the weekends
Don’t get very little sleep on the weekdays and then get 12 hours of sleep on Saturday and Sunday. Studies show that this is just about as bad as getting very little sleep. You can only make up for about 30-60 minutes of missed sleep each night, which is why you’ll need more than the weekend to make it up.
If you want to burn fat, sleep is the key. No ab workout will help you burn the fat that stress is keeping in your mid-section. If you need more help with sleep, reach out to our gym in West Chester, PA at …. To get started.
