You don't sleep well - you don't lose weight: how many hours of sleep are needed to lose weight

 It's no secret that to lose weight you need to create a calorie deficit, monitor your water balance and add physical activity. In addition, you should not forget about sleep, because it plays far from the last role in the process of losing weight.

How much sleep is needed to effectively lose weight, said fitness trainer Viktor Mandziak on his Facebook page.

Why sleep when losing weight

During weight loss, a person can lose extra pounds in two ways: burning fat and burning muscle. According to the expert, muscles add relief and aesthetics to the body, so they should be stored, and fat should be burned.

In 2018, scientists decided to investigate the connection between sleep and weight loss. For this, they selected 36 overweight people and divided them into 2 groups. A calorie deficit was created for all, but the difference between the groups was the number of hours of sleep per day.

One of them slept an hour and a half less than usual for 5 days a week. On the other two days, they could "catch up" on what they missed. Thus, this group had a deficit of the daily norm of sleep. The other group slept a full 7-8 hours.

What were the results of the experiment

With the help of special devices, scientists measured what was burned in the participants of the experiment during weight loss - carbohydrates or muscles. As a result, they found that those who slept less hours "burned" less fat, but instead more muscles.

It is important to note that both groups lost muscle mass without exercise. However, the first lost it by as much as 39%, while the second - only by 17.

Lack of sleep during weight loss has a negative effect on the muscles, and also makes a person hungrier than he is in a normal energetic state. Thus, the body wants to fill the energy gaps through additional calories.

How many hours of sleep are needed to lose weight

For effective and healthy weight loss, you need to create a calorie deficit of up to 25%, consume protein at the level of 1.5 grams per kilogram of body weight, perform strength exercises and get enough sleep.

On average, a person should sleep a third of the day, i.e. 7-8 hours. And if you neglect it on weekdays and hope to "catch up" on the weekend, that's not how the human body works.