The UFC commentator, Joe Rogan, is known to be one of the most famous and influential figures on the internet. He previously worked as a seasoned comedian and a TV presenter, but since he entered the world of MMA, he has gained great prominence.
In an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast, the UFC commentator highlighted how essential sleep is to the human body. Nowadays, people don’t recognize the importance of sleep for their productivity and prefer sleeping for four to five hours maximum.
In that reference, Rogan said, “People know how valuable sleep is now it’s literally like a performance-enhancing drug. People that sleep four hours a day versus people that sleep eight hours a day, the markers are f**king Astonishing“. He elaborated on how his brain feels like exploding as he only got five hours of sleep the night before shooting the podcast.
The next morning, he worked out with John Wolf for hours. Because of this, his whole body feels restless. Rogan added, “If I needed to do something where I had to be at my f**king very best. I would make sure I got a lot of sleep and didn’t work out that day”. Joe wants his brain and body to feel healthy and more productive, to do that he recommends getting more sleep.
Rogan and fitness educator Derek Chew discussed how important it is to get good hours of sleep for a healthy body. It helps to boost one’s efficiency as well, especially for those aspiring to be bodybuilders.
How important sleep is for bodybuilders?
Saying sleep is important for bodybuilders is quite an understatement, as it’s much more than that. Getting long hours of sleep helps with muscle growth, as when an athlete does not get enough sleep, they don’t fully utilize the replenishment of muscle glycogen.
It’s recommended for bodybuilders to consume a combination of protein and carbohydrates an hour before going to bed. This can boost levels of Human Growth Hormone (HGH) during sleep, especially after resistance training sessions. Lack of sleep also leads to low levels of energy and mood swings. And research has proven that an athlete’s performance can be highly affected by their emotional state.
Moreover, sleep not only promotes muscle growth, but it actually decreases muscle mass, if not sufficiently. According to a study in 2011, researchers found that people who slept for 5.5 hours had 60% less muscle mass, while those who slept for 8.5 hours had 40% more muscle mass.
Having sufficient hours of sleep helps greatly in stimulating better muscle growth as well as mass. Therefore, it holds equal importance for young aspiring bodybuilders, just like training and having an enriched diet.