[Sleep]
Zzzzzzzzzz
God I love my bed!
King size, hard so it’s good for my old back and so bloody comfy. We have a great relationship my bed and I. It doesn’t talk back and I spend a lot of time with it showing my gratitude by drooling over its pillows every night.
We pretty much spend one third of our lives sleeping. Did you know this? Crazy!
It obviously shows how important sleep is for us humans and how our body’s functions are dependent on it.
On the odd occasion when I find myself at home with nothing to do I have been known to have a nana nap or two. That feeling is so good when you’re relaxed and the moment your eyes start getting heavy ready to drift off in peace. The best!
Experts say 7-8 hours every night should be your target! Not just for the ability to navigate through your day and complete tasks but also from a health aspect too…
Lack of quality sleep slows the metabolism and inhibits fat loss. Sleep deprivation affects your body’s ability to use insulin (the process where fat cells remove fatty acids and lipids from your bloodstream and prevent storage).
When this has been disrupted, fats circulate in your blood and pump out more insulin. This excess insulin ends up getting stored as fat. Cortisol levels also rise when you aren’t sleeping enough. The result – your brain says ‘feed me’ regardless of your stomach being full or empty. Pardon the pun but it’s a recipe for disaster!
Anyway I was about to enjoy one of those nana naps I was talking about….
The scene was set. On the couch (because I cbf dragging my arse to bed) blanket draped over me covering everything but my eyes. Had my hoodie on, beanie on (standard), trackie pants were on and I was wearing a pair of socks I only wear around the house – not in public for obvious reasons.
This is what I picture heaven to be like.
The feeling was so good and as my eyes got heavier, with a cheeky smirk on my face I thought to myself – this is too good to be true.
Turns out I was right.
After about 15 minutes experiencing a whole heap of peace and nothingness I get woken up by a horrific sound. The next door neighbour starting his F***ing whipper snipper.
‘You’ve gotta be kidding me mate!!’ I belted out… although that wasn’t as polite as what actually came out of my mouth.
‘Can’t you see I’m the only person on the planet and I’m trying to sleep here??’
Gee whiz! So rude!
Long story short, I couldn’t get back to sleep after tossing and turning like a true tosser so I got up and spent the rest of the day being a grumpy arse old man and mumbling a whole heap of things under my breath that didn’t make any sense.
Point is, if you don’t get enough sleep you’ll be a grumpy old bastard and won’t have the ability to train effectively and efficiently. Therefore the task of making progress in the gym is going to be a lot harder. Make sure you get some and tell your neighbours to stop being so inconsiderate.
‘’If you have a body, we can help you’’
Ben
Infinite Fitness Peninsula