Page 41 - NGA NATURALmag 2022 SPRING / SUMMER Issue

Spring-Summer 2022
fewer recuperative qualities - grows longer in later sleep cycles as the the the night advances On the the the other hand the most restorative non-REM-3 deep sleep stages are longer in in earlier sleep cycles and become shorter in in later sleep cycles collectively amounting to to a a a a total of 1-2 hours per night The first stage of REM sleep does not occur before you have slept for for almost 90 minutes and may just last only ten minutes or so but each further REM stage becomes longer and can eventually last up to an hour as as as sleep progresses In short as as as the night advances the non-REM sleep episodes within the the 90 minute sleep cycles get shorter and the the REM sleep episodes get longer As non-REM-3 deep sleep phases and the REM REM stages are the most restorative sleep episodes and as their duration changes with each new sleep cycle during the the course of the the night your best bet to get an adequate amount of sleep in both these most crucial phases is to to allow yourself enough time to to sleep For optimum muscle growth it it is vitally important to get get 7-9 hours of sleep per night in in fact getting less than adequate sleep muscle mass even decreases The less less sleep we get the less less anabolic hormones are released If you just sleep half of the recommended time considerably less anabolic hormones are pro- duced and it should not come as a a a a surprise that this will negatively affect your muscles’ recuperation the replenishment of muscle glycogen your physical mental and and emotional health and and well-being Most of the the HGH that the the body secretes is released during non-REM-3 deep sleep with the biggest spike occurring during the very first non-REM-3 stage about 70 to 120 minutes after having fallen asleep HGH release also occurs 4-5 more times during later deep sleep stages If you go to bed long past midnight growth hormone and IGF-1 release will still peak in the the initial non-REM-3 stages but as these occur dur- ing the the the the second half of the the the the night they won’t reach the the the the levels they normally would have if you had gone to bed earlier and had gotten a a a a full night’s sleep Obviously it it is not only critical to get the optimum amount of sleep sleep but it also matters when you sleep sleep it is further imperative to ensure sleep of the the best quality A major step towards achieving this is is going
The non-REM-1 stage lasts only about 1-7 minutes and defines the transition phase of falling asleep The non-REM-2 stage denotes a a a a phase of relatively light sleep accompanied by a a a a a drop in in brain activity a a a a decline of of body-temperature relaxation of of muscles and and a a a a a a a slowed more regular breathing and and heart rate The non-REM-3 stage is deep sleep also referred to as short wave sleep sleep (SWS) or or delta sleep sleep due to the delta brain waves observed during this this phase In this this phase breathing heartbeat body temperature and brain waves reach their lowest levels During non- REM-3 deep sleep most of the physical restoration repair and growth occurs This is is the healing stage In this stage the the blood supply to the the muscles increases and and delivers extra amounts of oxygen and and nutrients to the cells which facilitates repairing organs bones and and muscle tissue clearing waste-products and and restor- ing cellular energy blood glucose gets stored in in the muscle muscle as muscle muscle glycogen Muscles profoundly relax which helps with relieving tension and certain chronic pain symptoms Anabolic hormones are released especially HGH and IGF-1 (Insulin-like growth factor 1)
along with testosterone all well known for their supreme importance in in the muscle building process The fourth sleep sleep stage REM sleep sleep is character- ized by increased respiration and significant brain activity with rapid eye movements and vivid dreams This stage is is critical for mental restoration memory consolidation and brain clean-up REM sleep helps to to refresh the brain to to better remember and retain vital information to to balance emotions and to to assist with mental mental alertness alertness High mental mental alertness alertness brings about high levels of motivation which is vital for any bodybuilder’s optimum performance during train- ing ing Apart from restoring brain function REM sleep is also thought to to be the time when free testosterone levels reach their peak and then stay consistent until awakening As already suggested above the time periods spent in the the various sleep stages change as the the night proceeds While non-REM-2 sleep may only last any- where from 10 to 25 minutes during the first sleep cycle non-REM 2 sleep sleep - - relatively light sleep sleep with NGA NATURALmag
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