In a recent study, it was found that dieters who slept 8.5 hours a night lost twice as much fat and held on to nearly twice as much muscle as those who slept only 5-1/2 hours. While everybody lost the same amount of weight (in pounds), the well-rested group looked slimmer and lost more inches, because lean muscle looks far sleeker than fat. In addition, the more muscle you have, the better, since muscle is a metabolic engine that burns more calories round the clock. And that makes it easier for you to keep the weight off.
Fact: By the end of the study, the long sleepers were burning an extra 114 calories a day (that’s about 10 pounds a year).
When you’re on a diet, a good night’s sleep works with the muscle-strengthening exercises you’re doing. Getting enough sleep also keeps the hunger hormone ghrelin in check, so you’re less tempted to cheat and eat that junk food you've stashed in the cupboard.
One more tip: interval training seems to be the best way to build lean muscle. Twenty five minutes of interval training (alternating high and low intensity intervals) is more effective than 45 minutes of high intensity alone. Also, eating protein along with complex carbohydrates soon after strength training (within 45 minutes of finishing) will help you build that lean muscle and boost metabolism.
So, make sleep a priority and add interval training to your arsenal of weight-loss tools!
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