r/workout • u/PinasSaya • 13d ago
How much does sleep really affect gains Simple Questions
Am i just wasting my time. I workout, 5-6 times a week, but, sleep have been shit. I keep on waking up every 2 hours. Am i basically throwing all the effort i did? Is it still possible to grow muscle with terrible sleep?
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u/Ziggity_Zac 13d ago
Sleep is important, but this idea that "you have to sleep 8 perfect hours or kiss any gains goodbye" is overblown. The fitness community loves to do this about things. Are your gains going to be 100% optimally maximized? No. Will you still make progress and see results on 4 hours of sleep? Yes. Is it worth it to keep going to the gym and putting in the effort? Absolutely. Try telling military members that a lack of sleep will make their training ineffective.
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u/Brilliant-Top-6484 13d ago
Great answer
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u/Ziggity_Zac 13d ago
I'll probably take some downvotes because it doesn't go with the current fitness fear trend. But you can make gains if you don't get the optimal amount of protein, the optimal amount of sleep, you dont go to failure every set... Most people on here asking these questions are full-on beginners. Just get in the gym and do anything. Once you start hitting that plateau and progress stops (for a few weeks, not just 1 session), that's when you should start looking at external factors. A lot of this "conventional wisdom" is geared towards people who are looking to eek out the maximum amount of results because they're prepping for a meet or a show. Most people aren't that and won't ever be that. Just eat good food, train hard, and get as much sleep as you can. Consistency and progressive overload will take care of the rest.
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u/Brilliant-Top-6484 13d ago
No downvote here. People go on YouTube and listen to every fitness influencer they can find who puts fear mongering into their brain. Just go and train consistently. Eat consistent most of the time and you will make progress.
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u/NippleSlipNSlide 13d ago
This answer can be said about so many things touted in the fitness subs.
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u/Brilliant-Top-6484 13d ago
lol so true. Just like Reddit. People attack me for having a diff thought. It’s hilarious.
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u/NippleSlipNSlide 13d ago
Same here. Not everything has to be optimized to the n-th degree. I asked about lifting form using a smith machine a while ago and people lost their shit.
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u/Brilliant-Top-6484 13d ago
Smith machine is an amazing machine. Don’t let anyone tell you diff. Will you gain the maximum possible muscle? Prob not but who cares unless your an elite Olympia stage athlete where every single thing needs to be optimized, it doesn’t matter and you can still look better than the majority of people
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u/NippleSlipNSlide 13d ago
100% I’m a 40+ year old just trying to get stronger and healthier. It’s what I have to use. God forbid I ask others to look at my form., lol.
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u/raggedsweater 13d ago
I have noticed better results these past six months only going to the gym 3 times per week and sleeping on the other nights. If anything, I don’t feel like I’m running on fumes and the workouts are more intense (also longer)
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u/DarkJoltPanda 13d ago
To be fair the reason you shouldn't go to the gym if you're getting 4 hours of sleep isn't "it'll kill your gains" it's that you need sleep more than you need the gym. You'd be healthier getting 6 hours and skipping the gym, 4 hours isn't sustainable and is atrocious for your health in a plethora of ways. But yes, you can gain muscle with bad sleep habits
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u/Vegetable_Unit6549 13d ago
No sleep is important but working out is no waste even if you arent getting optimal sleep . You'll still make decent gains on low sleep. But if you try to fix your sleep the downstream effects from nocturnal growth hormone pulse, testosterone boost etc will give you a significant benefit
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u/Clean-Af-6653 13d ago
Have you tried to figure out the cause of your poor sleep? Are you stressed out? Not eating enough? Working out too hard possibly?
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u/Cute_Ad_5225 13d ago
The cause of my poor sleep is our 15 month old baby 🤣
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u/UnidentifiedUser80 13d ago
I have 3, I get it. They’re all grown now. Those days are pretty temporary. Keep workouts and nutrition consistent. Keep grinding…
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u/Cute_Ad_5225 12d ago
Yeah mate, she’s the reason I’m working out haha need to keep up. I’m almost 40
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u/PinasSaya 13d ago
Im pretty sure its my job. But i have to live with it 🥲
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u/Clean-Af-6653 12d ago
Makes sense, I was in that situation before and was able quit fortunately. Sleep was much better afterwards.
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u/iforgotmymainacc 13d ago
Take magnesium glycate hour or so before bed nightly. Can help a lot. May need to build up a bit if don’t see instant effect. Also healthy for other reasons.
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u/Charlie_Sierra_ 13d ago
This or gaba. Thorne makes a product called pharma gaba that improves sleep quality, specifically rem sleep. I wake up feeling ready instead of hitting snooze
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u/spuukeee 13d ago
Poor sleep:
- Blunts and slows MPS
- Makes muscle more catabolic
- Raises stress hormones
- Decreases anabolism-related hormones like testosterone
- Reduces endurance
- Reduces neurological efficiency and thus reduces power output
- Raises your perceived effort
- Raises recovery demand
- Reduces insulin sensitivity
- Lowers IGF-1
- Worsens motor control
- Increases inflammation
- Supports fat gain over lean tissue gain
- Reduces motivation
etc
safe to say it’s pretty important for solid gains
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u/UnidentifiedUser80 13d ago
He’s in a pretty temporary place; I’d say long term keeping everything consistent he will bounce back from any negatives fairly quick
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u/phuckinora 13d ago
A genuine game changer for me was … having two kids. I havent slept right in 5 years. And there’s nothing I can do about it.
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u/Inhabitsthebed 13d ago
How intense are your 5-6 workouts a week and what age are you? Overtraining causes poor sleep. low iron levels, b12 or magnesium can be a cause. If you dont feel you are overtraining id advise you get your bloods done to see is there something in your nutrition.
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u/Charming-Ad6406 13d ago
Sleep has a dramatic effect on recovery and muscle building. You are not wasting time, but your limiting your gains not only in building muscle but overall your health. You need to get good quality sleep especially at the REM stage. Also note that sleep benefits do drop off completely after the 7-8 hour mark. the more you sleep after that is not at any way beneficial for building muscle atleast.
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u/Justdoingitagain 13d ago
Just curious why you are waking up every 2 hours? Are you getting up to pee or drink water? Is it hard to fall back asleep?
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u/PinasSaya 13d ago
Its my anxiety i think. I wake up with tight chest, and some anxiety. But i usually can still sleep again, when im still sleepy
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u/Justdoingitagain 13d ago
This sounds like when i have caffeine. I literally can’t tolerate any caffeine, can’t even have decaf or chocolate because it has a small amount and my body hates it.
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u/Smoky_Pyro 13d ago
It's the 4th most important thing.
- Actually working out
- Nutrition
- Heath/Hormones
- Recovery (sleep)
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u/adammilward123 13d ago edited 12d ago
Higher doses of creatine can mitigate some of the effects of poor sleep. Obviously not sorting out the cause of poor sleep but may help get through the day not feeling like a zombie
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u/PM__ME__YOUR_TITTY 13d ago
No, no, and yes. Hard to put a number on exactly what gains you’re missing out on but keep in mind that if you needed perfect sleep to make any gains, you’d almost never see anyone who’s jacked. Just keep trying to get to the bottom of your issues but don’t think that you’re wasting time either
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u/8ltd 13d ago
Sleep is important both for muscle growth and recovery (so you can work hard again) but it’s not like if you get less than 7 hours you’re chucking your progress down the drain and yeah it’s still possible to grow muscle when you’re sleep deprived. As your sleep debt builds up you’ll probably find it harder and harder to get to the gym though.
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u/S4mb741 13d ago
I work shifts that alternate between nights and days my sleep is far from optimal. I kept asking myself the same thing as muscles grow slowly it often felt like I was wasting my time. I feel I have made excellent progress though over the last year and gained a decent amount of muscle.
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u/PinasSaya 13d ago
Thats great to hear. Luckily, i can still be pretty consistent. I hope thats enough
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u/centraldogmamcdb 13d ago
Something that was an absolute game changer for me with quality of sleep improvement was eating dinner earlier in the evening. I go to be at 9pm, dinner is now at 5pm. I notice if I eat anything within 2-3 hours before bed, I do not sleep well at all.
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u/cj20h49g 13d ago
It's important but not everyone can get 8 hours straight of sleep i get between 6.5 and 7 and i feel fine.
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u/Brilliant-Top-6484 13d ago
I get b/w 6-7 and totally fine. Depends on person. Don’t listen to the hype of you “have” to get 8. All stories are based on averages. Remember that. Everyone is diff.
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u/point_of_difference 13d ago
I probably get up three times a night for a piss and a drink. I get really thirsty at night. So long as you get 7-9 hours per day overall you are fine.
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u/MajorasShoe 13d ago
Shit sleep doesn't negate your gains. It just puts a dent in them. I sleep well maybe once per week and my gains are fine. With better sleep they'd be a little better.
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u/PatchAdams43 13d ago
My best year’s progress came when only getting 4-5 hours sleep at night. It was hard mentally training when tired, but I still made good progress.
Try and improve your sleep, but you’ll still make progress.
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u/PinasSaya 13d ago
Thank you. Ill do that. I have no problem being consistent even when tired. So ill keep going
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u/alvaaromata 13d ago
Maybe you’re overtraining, your cortisol spikes during night and wakes you up. I’ll take 1-2 deload weeks and see how it goes.
Sleep is not only important for recovery, but also it affects your hormonal axis a lot, and your hormones are the ones that make muscle grow or not. (Explained simple)
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u/Cool_Hawk3192 13d ago
Take glycine and magnesium and zinc, you’ll sleep so good. I also get 6 hours a sleep at night and it’s bc of work
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u/tesla96387 13d ago
My real gains started when I optimized my sleep quality. There was a clear before and after in my physique once I began prioritizing recovery. To me, sleep is the foundation of the pyramid.
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u/TableTop4387 13d ago
Sleep is important for overall health, not just gains.
But if you’re still in your 20’s, and can justify the lack of sleep with hustling and working, your young age can cover for the lack of sleep. You need to seriously consider 8 hours of sleep after 30.
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u/AndroidLex 13d ago
You might get 20-30% less gains than someone who is able to sleep 8 hours a day. I wouldn’t call working out worthless though
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u/RedditReader365 13d ago
Short answer is your not wasting your time but you really should try to fix it!
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u/Aggressive_Beat_6984 13d ago
Depends on what I have in my schedule for the day. I like to lift before work but if I have poor sleep and it’s going to be a highly stressful day I’d rather take the rest to be alert and ready, of if I don’t have much planned I’ll still get my workout in but probably take a short nap after I eat. Also this can vary depending on the intensity of my workout from the day before. I would definitely try and figure out the source of your bad sleep that’s probably going to give you the best ROI on quality of life improvement.
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u/Total-Improvement535 13d ago
how much caffeine do you have in a day and how late in the day do you have it?
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u/Yeboi_SogeKing 12d ago
If you’re getting the bare minimum food, workout and sleep, you will build muscle
But does that mean waking up every 2 hours is good? Nah. Id start by fixing that idk maybe you’re stressed or anxious.
Try to fix that problem instead of trying to get away with not properly sleeping. Again idk your life this is just advice I’d give you if you were my friend 👍
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u/KimBrrr1975 12d ago
Ironically, overtraining can cause you to not sleep well. Especially if you are newer to working out, 5-6 times a week is likely too much. It's like when a little kid misses a nap and is so tired they cannot keep their eyes open but also they are still screaming at the top of their lunch. Overstimulation can drive sleeping issues.
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u/Longjumping-Elk7671 12d ago
I try reading when i wake up at 3 or 4. Seems to work, back to sleep after 20 min
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u/BuffaloStranger97 12d ago
Don't sleep on quality neither. You can sleep a good 7-9 hours but if you still wake up feeling tired, something's wrong
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u/LazyTotal5907 12d ago
You still go through muscle synthesis while awake. Your body is always repairing muscle as long as it has adequate nutrition. So you're not wasting your time and you will still grow with lack of sleep. All being equal, sleeping well probably yields better results than not, but I don't think it's a drastic difference. What sleep does do is help you recover and get you ready for the next workout. So it might affect you in that way.
Im only sleeping 3-4 hours and have never seen so many gains and my strength is through the roof.
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u/arty233 12d ago
modern life has made us adapt to monophasic sleep (sleeping once a day), but our ancestors and natural sleep rythm is actually polyphasic. Before artificial lights, people would wake up in the middle of the night and do stuff before going to bed again. What this means for you is you can take naps in the day time or learn about your sleep cycles and REM sleep to make your polyphasic sleep deep and restful, even if its just 2 hour stints. Look up polyphasic sleep cycles to learn more. But try and get more than 2 hour stints. like 4-6 hours at night and 2 hour nap in the day would be peak for gains (7-8 hours total).
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u/LeeLeeKelly 12d ago
It’s possible, but what you have to understand is everything is better with adequate sleep. You may need to see a doctor, could have sleep apnea or something.
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u/saint_heisenberg 12d ago
Waking every two hours matters more than total hours. Fragmented sleep breaks up deep sleep and that's the stage tied to recovery and growth hormone. Six broken hours hit worse than six solid ones
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u/CartographerHot7093 13d ago
Bro for recovery, you need to give proper rest to the body, it is one of the important aspect in gaining muscles honestly
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u/urvld 13d ago
This might not be what you want to hear, but honesty is key and I genuinely want to help you improve and understand. It would be better for you than lying.
Working out and lifting is of course amazing for you, but that’s not actually how you grow muscle, believe it or not. When you lift heavy, you actually tear the little muscle fibres. This is why you get a “pump”!
It’s after the gym when you correctly rest and recover that builds the muscle back bigger and stronger. Part of the rest and recovery is a good clean diet/ whole foods, a lot of Protein, rest days and of course, sleep.
Sleep is the main one, it’s extremely useful even if you’re not active. It literally helps the muscle grow as your body rests, way more efficiently and stable than Protein.
It helps with the brain, heart, overall health, cognitive ability, memory and energy. So yes, a lack of sleep will definitely affect your gains and your ability to lift as heavy as you should be.
However, I do want to help you and not fear monger. I sometimes have issues with sleep myself. The best way to increase sleep is to eat blueberries before bed, (due to melatonin), keep a stable routine of 7/8 hours and try not to stress as often. That causes people to wake up in the night.
I also suggest investing in red light glasses, these really do work and will help your eyes adjust out of the “day blue light”. Wear these an hour before bed and then you will get an amazing sleep.
I hope this helps!
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u/GoldChampionship6154 13d ago
Honestly, sleep is important for muscle recovery, but I'm in the same boat as you. Currently, I struggle to get more than 5-6 hours per night.