Today you are going to discover the most neglected muscle building strategy for calisthenics beginners.

(“It’s the thing you do 33% of your life”)

Sleep.

Specifically, you will discover:

• why sleep can help you lose fat;
• why too little of it has the same negative effects on your brain’s performance as drinking alcohol;
• and why you should prioritise it if you want to progress faster and be protected against the flue.

Let’s jump right in. 

• 1. Why poor sleep increases your chances of getting fat
• 2. Why poor sleep might make you lose 60% more muscle
• 3. Why good sleep makes you feel better, benefits your cognition and athletic performance
• 4. Why poor sleep has a similar effect on performance as alcohol consumption
• 5. Why poor sleep might increase your levels of pain
• 6. Why good sleep protects you against the flue
• 7. 8 simple tips to improve your sleep

Why Poor Sleep Increases The Chances Of You Getting Fat

Don’t sacrifice with your sleep if you want to lose fat.

Why?

Because lack of sleep is one of the strongest risk factors for obesity. 

Research shows that lack of sleep increases hunger which in turn can lead to an increase of energy intake from different foods or something we would normally call ‘overeating’ (1, 2 ,3).

This even holds when different factors such as lifestyle, work and health are taken into account (4).

People who sleep better on the other hand tend to consume less calories during the day (5)

Why Poor Sleep Might Make You Lose 60% More Muscle

Why sleep more for more lean gains?

Well, here is why:

Reducing your sleep from 8.5 to 5.5 hours will make you lose up to 60% more muscle when in a caloric deficit (5).

So if you want to get lean and have a shiny six pack, better sleep well.

Why Good Sleep Makes You Feel Better, Benefits Your Cognition And Athletic Performance

Wonder why you always feel so crappy after a short night of sleep?

Well, you aren’t the only one.

Research shows that restriction of sleep produces the same brain wave patterns sometimes observed in depression (6, 7).

Not only do you feel worse, your ability to solve problems is reduced too (8).

Research on athletic basketball players for example showed that better sleep improved speed, accuracy and mental well-being (9)

You might wonder why you still feel bad and perform bad after training your ass off and eating right.

Well, if those two things happen at the expense of good sleep you might have found the reason for it.

Why Poor Sleep Has A Similar Effect On Performance As Alcohol Consumption

So you don’t drink alcohol, but you sleep 3-5 hours a night?

Might as well have some beers to celebrate that achievement, because sleep deprivation has similar effects as alcohol consumption.

Reducing your response speed up to 50% and being even worse for accuracy (10).

Why Poor Sleep Might Increase Your Levels Of Pain

Being sore after a good workout might feel like a good thing.

But is it really?

Actually muscle soreness is not an indication of a ‘good training’, in reality the opposite can be true.

What does this mean?

Rather than focusing on how sore you are, improve how fast you recover.

Not only does sleep aid in recovery, it influences daily fluctuations in pain (11).

Even a single night of too little sleep can increase pain your response.

Why Good Sleep Protects You Against The Flue

A small amount of sleep loss results in lower levels of protection against the common cold (12).

In one study, they found that people who sleep less than 7 hours were 300% more likely to develop a cold than people who slept 8 hours (13).

8 Simple Tips To Improve Your Sleep

So with all that talk about the importance of sleep.

How much sleep do you really need?

Well, it really depends on you as a person and your level of activity, but generally getting around 7-8 hours of sleep is recommended for the general public (12).

Now that you know what to aim for…

Here are some of the personal tools I use to improve my sleep and stick to 7-8 hours a night:

• Sleep apps – Track your sleep by using apps like the one I recommend in the 7 days of beast mode e-mail course to get insights into your patterns, habits and sleep quality.
• Blue light detox – Avoid blue light 60 minutes before going to bed by using flux on your devices and candles for light to make sure your body doesn’t think it should be awake.
• Sleep time – Extend your sleep time instead of napping to catch up, because the best way to increase sleep quality is through longer hours of sleep.
• Supplements – Use supplements that improve sleep quality like the ones I recommend in this course to get the extra edge.
• Bed timer – Set a bed time timer to make sure you go to bed on consistent times and get adequate amounts of sleep habitually.
• Sleep environment – Use scents like lavender that improve sleep quality and a silent room to avoid being disturbed.
• Music – Put on relaxing music 30 minutes before going to bed to calm down and prepare for a good night.
• Good-night-to-do list – Spend a maximum of 5 minutes on writing a to-do list for the next day before going to bed to prevent lingering on thoughts.

Even applying 1-3 of these tips might significantly improve your sleep quality and general performance.

Or what we like to call:

‘THE GAINS!’

Make Sleep Your Priority And Improve Your Results

When you realise how BIG the effect of a lack of sleep is, you’ll notice how much progress you’ve been missing out on.

Don’t get me wrong: sleep alone isn’t magic. You still need to put in the work.

But by getting proper amounts of sleep a good training can turn into a great one.

And a painful day after can turn into a less painful day after.

You still have to be patient, consistent and eager, but if you are, sleep can help you build that body you are looking for.

Stop letting your lack of sleep K.O. your results.

Take one on the jaw for now, reset your sleeping habits and punch the guy called ‘sleep deprivation’ back.

Twice as hard.

Right where it hurts him.

After a good night of rest.

*Fist bump*

Now I’d like to hear from you:

Did you like this post?

Or maybe you have a question.

Either way, make sure you get your download and leave a quick comment below right now.