I've tried searching the forum but didn't find much useful.

How important is sleep for fat loss? i get on average 5-7 hours of sleep most nights.

Although when i did lose the most of my fat was at a time where basically slept twice a day for over 8 hours at night and 2 hours at midday (was too hot to be active).

Getting adequate sleep is super important. You don't grow in the gym. You grow during your rest periods. Personally, I get 8-9 hours a night.

For me, sleep is easily one of the most important things for my health/well-being. Everyone is different, of course, but I find that I feel best when I get 8-9 hours a night. More importantly, I feel better when I sleep consistently, especially waking up at the same time everyday.

I can't speak for other cultures, but in the United States, getting very little sleep is like a badge of honor. People seem to equate sleep with laziness. But your body heals itself at night, and I find that mentally, I am a lot sharper and better able to focus when I am sleeping right. I have no caffeine in my diet and never have. Even when I was in college full time, working full time, and had a lot of extracurricular obligations, I never needed caffeine to sustain me. A decent diet and plenty of sleep should get you through the day. If you have the chance for a brief, afternoon nap, all the better!

Indulge yourself. I don't look at sleep as an inconvenience - I see it as one of the best ways to treat myself to something nice.
Sleep is something you can be good at. Learning to clear your mind and truly relax, especially after a day with a good, heavy workout, is a great skill to develop.

Your body will thank you.

I thought that I had read that sleep, good sound sleep, is really important for fat loss. Something about natural hGH levels.

I've tried searching the forum but didn't find much useful.

How important is sleep for fat loss? i get on average 5-7 hours of sleep most nights.

Although when i did lose the most of my fat was at a time where basically slept twice a day for over 8 hours at night and 2 hours at midday (was too hot to be active).

I think sleep is incredibly important. In fact, you burn the largest percentage of calories from fat when you are the least active - which means you do burn quite a bit of fat during rest. Your central nervous system requires it to recharge and avoid fatigue and overtraining and much of your muscle rebuilding will take place.

Even as an IT director who puts in 60 - 80 hours per week (sometimes more) and also runs another business, I still follow the "no alarm" philosophy. Most days I do not set an alarm and let my body wake me. Obviously if there are important meetings/travel then I need to change that but for the most part I try to wake up naturally. If I find I'm sleeping in too long then I make an effort to get to bed earlier.

Some people truly do have a full schedule, I find most who complain to me don't get enough sleep actually sit in front of the TV to "unwind" which is like putting strobe lights in your head and then trying to fall asleep ... that's time they could be relaxing and getting a jumpstart on recovery instead.

Not saying I do that all of the time .. I still keep up with 24 and Lost. :)

Jeremy

Very.

1. Your body will deteriorate without sleep meaning no mass, hold on to fat, and increased chance of injury.

2. Hormones essential to muscle growth and fat loss are released during sleep.

3. If you don't get enough sleep your central nervous system will slowly deteriorate until you get enough.

I have heard and met a few people who's natural cycle has always been 6 hours per night (even after months of not having to get up) and they are just as perky day after day as people who get 8-10. If you have always existed on around 6 hrs of sleep (no alarms, even during summers when you didn't have to work as a kid, etc) naturally (no alarm clock) then I wouldn't worry about it too much.

The last month of last semester I had so much to do I lived on 2 4hr naps per day. During that time I gained around 7 lbs with no change in diet or activity level.


If you aren't getting enough sleep you are hurting yourself. How much you need can vary from person to person but most people need 8-10 hours and most athletes I know get closer to 10-12 per day. Even if you are a 6 hr person if you get 8 you will probably still lose weight and add mass faster.

I've found that no matter what my current goals are, sleep is CRITICAL.

IHow important is sleep for fat loss?

Very important.

Well from tomorrow i'm going to be hitting the sack alot earlier, mon/wed/fri i'll be going for 9pm-6:30am sleep and other days more like 10pm-7am

unfortunatly the way my life is structured right now, i cant get my sleep at the same time....very...very... controlling fiancee. she'd probably dumped me if i tried going home earlier than 9 most days (mon/wed/fri i dont see her)

also on mon/wed/fri im going to start cycling to work, 15 miles there and 15 miles back, that should help some for fat loss :D

My average is about 5-7 hours too. It's been like that since I can't remember. :)