Written by S. Thompson | Posted in Health and Fitness |

The importance of weight training when it comes to building muscle is obvious. However, one of the most important elements for muscle growth that is often overlooked is rest. That’s right – rest. In fact, more muscle growth can occur during eight hours of rest than during the other sixteen hours when you are awake.

When you are resting, your body goes into recovery mode. Since your activity level is extremely low, your body can focus on fighting off viruses, repair damaged tissue and build new muscle. Getting at least eight hours of sleep each night will give your body the ideal muscle building window for you to build the most muscle possible each day. As a side note, I want to mention that training and rest will only produce significant gains in muscle mass when combined with an anabolic diet that provides your body with the nutrition required for fast muscle growth.

Not only does sufficient rest lead to optimum muscle growth, it also prevents the negative side effects that are associated with sleep deprivation. When the body receives less than six hours of rest on a consistent basis, it will start to adversely impact the endocrine system. The endocrine system is responsible for many functions, but when it comes to muscle building, the most important functions served by the endocrine system are that of hormone excretion and immune system response.

A lagging endocrine system will lead to your immune system performing at a less than optimal level. This can lead to you becoming sick more frequently which can limit the frequency and intensity of your training. Combining this with a decrease in the release of the hormone, testosterone, will cause a drastic difference in your muscle building results over time.

If you want to build lean muscle mass, and get ripped, getting sufficient rest is extremely important in enabling you to fight off illnesses and maintain high testosterone levels. We all could use a little more rest, and if you are trying to build and sculpt your physique, you now have one more reason to make sure you are getting at least eight hours of sleep every night.

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