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Disclaimer…these are my thoughts, opinions, ramblings, I’m not sure everything is totally factual so please challenge me if you have something to say, I want to learn. I’m probably going to do more research on this and make a new post in a bit.
- Recovery generator: this winter break I got some really tough workouts in…I’m so sorry to the gym floor for how much I sweated. It was wonderful! And while my hip pain was still there…it wasn’t nearly as bad as it was in the toughest parts of the semester. Because I SLEPT. Granted, I slept at 2am and lazily roll over at 11am, not the best, but we’ve all made mistakes. Sleep is SO important for recovery post-workouts or even in general. When your body feels cranky, you get cranky. So, sleep!
- Mood regulator: more sleep = a better mood (this is up to interpretation…better may mean more sarcastic to one person or kinder to another, it’s all relative). Maybe it just means feeling more like “yourself”. Sleeping to improve mood is huge for me, at least, and the times my coworkers have told me “yeah…I slept for an hour last night”, I could just tell they were more tired. And my boyfriend is much less cranky when he gets more sleep (I mean, he’s still cranky, but still lovable).
- A key tenet of health: there’s obviously a reason plenty of athletic trainers and strength coaches I know (whether on Twitter or in person) are always preaching sleep. It’s key for recovery and performance both mentally and physically, which is everything an athlete needs. But it can go for anyone, really.
