If you read our articles regularly, you’ll know that sleep is crucial for muscle recovery and, consequently, muscle growth. But how long should you actually sleep?

SLEEP DURATION GUIDELINES

To answer that question, we look at the 2015 guidelines from the American sleep institute, the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), which are based on hundreds of scientific studies.

The result is bandwidths that suit different life stages:

• children from 6 to 13 years: 9 to 11 hours;
• teenagers from 14 to 17 years: 8 to 10 hours;
• young adults and adults: 7 to 9 hours;
• 65+: 7 to 8 hours.

SLEEP QUALITY GUIDELINES

The NSF has also established guidelines for sleep quality. Good sleep means that you:

• spend at least 85% of the time in bed sleeping;
• fall asleep within 30 minutes;
• do not wake up more than once per night;
• are awake for less than 20 minutes if you wake up in between.

SLEEP AND BODY COMPOSITION

Sleep plays an important role in bodybuilding, both in terms of muscle growth and fat loss.

A good night’s sleep is essential for muscle growth because it repairs muscle damage, plays a significant role in protein synthesis, produces growth hormone, lowers cortisol levels, improves training performance, increases insulin sensitivity, and recharges the brain to ensure focused and motivated training.

Nighttime sleep is also important for maintaining or lowering your body fat percentage, namely because it promotes growth hormone and testosterone, lowers cortisol levels, increases insulin sensitivity, maintains metabolism and suppresses appetite.

DO BODYBUILDERS NEED MORE SLEEP?

The question arises whether strength athletes and bodybuilders need (even) more sleep. Unfortunately, there’s a lack of concrete research on this, but given the proven importance of sleep in body composition, we’re inclined to say that gym-goers could benefit from more sleep. Aim for 8 to 10 hours.

SLEEP PROBLEMS

If you find it difficult to meet the NSF guidelines, let alone the recommendation for bodybuilders, read this article on how to improve your sleep in seven steps.