That doesn’t mean exercise and nutrition aren’t important when it comes to building and maintaining muscle. “When I’m working with someone who’s really trying to build lean muscle, I always remind them that you have to hit protein macros, you have to lift heavy things, and you have to have high-quality sleep,” she explains. “You can’t build healthy, lean muscle without all three of those.”
That being said, it’s common to skimp on the sleep part of the equation—but Thurlow recommends we flip the script. Sleep, after all, is essential for restoring your body; and deep sleep (also known as stage 3 sleep or slow-wave sleep), promotes muscle and tissue growth, along with cell repair.
Research has even shown that individuals with low muscle mass more frequently report very poor sleep efficiency1. Another study found that even a single night of sleep deprivation is enough to decrease muscle protein synthesis2 in young, healthy males and females. The bottom line? Catching Zzz’s is very, very important for muscle gains—just as important as resistance training and proper nutrition, Thurlow would say.
