“Most Restorative, Most REM Sleep..”: IFBB Pro Stan Efferding Reveals the “Ideal” Amount of Sleep Required for Recovery

Rest and recovery are one of the most important aspects of the sport of bodybuilding. While many of us manage to maintain a good diet and workout routine, one thing that many of us are unable to manage is a good night’s sleep. Thanks to our hectic schedules, good sleep is rare to come by. However, it is extremely important to get at least 6-8 hours of sleep for optimum cognitive performance as well as muscle hypertrophy.

During the Muscle and Fitness podcast, bodybuilding veterans Stan Efferding, Milos Sarcev, Dennis James, and Chris Cormier discussed many bodybuilding and fitness-related topics. Amidst these discussions, Efferding revealed the actual truth behind good sleep and the relevance of the REM cycle. 

Stan Efferding talks about the relationship between REM and good sleep

When an individual trains, the muscle fibers get micro-tears. When these tears recover fully, the muscle fibers are rebuilt stronger and denser than before. This process is referred to as muscle hypertrophy. To increase the speed of recovery, rest and sleep play a crucial role.

Talking about this in the podcast, Stan stated, “Sleep, as you know, goes through cycles. These 90-minute cycles and they’re continuous they’re back to back and each subsequent cycle has a longer and longer REM and restorative sleep cycle.”

Continuing further, Efferding said, “It’s when you get into that fifth, sixth, seventh plus hour that you get the most restorative most REM sleep for both the brain and the body which is why it’s not ideal to get a couple of three-hour sessions it’s ideal to get a seven-plus hour session.”

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4X Classic Physique champion Chris Bumstead is also trying his best to enhance his sleep quality as much as possible as he prepares for his Fifth Olympia title.

Bumstead is not ready to make any compromises

The general rule of thumb when it comes to using smartphones and other blue ray-emitting devices is to keep them away from your reach for at least an hour before bed as it ensures that an individual gets a sound sleep at night. However, thanks to changing and hectic schedules, it becomes a bit hard to follow this rule.

All the more so for people like Chris Bumstead, who maintains an active following on social media. However, the second best thing to do in such cases is to use preventive tools and gadgets as Bumstead does. 

As a solution for this, Bumstead is currently relying on blue light-blocking spectacles at the moment. Bumstead recently posted a picture of himself wearing his night glasses on Instagram and disclosed, “Night glasses come with me everywhere. Operation actually sleep is in full effect.”

Stan Efferding and Chris Bumstead’s emphasis on getting a good sleep stems from the ongoing unpleasant tendency to not get enough rest. While it is extremely important for bodybuilders to rest properly, sleep is equally important for the ones who don’t lift as well. Do you get enough sleep every night without fail? Comment below to let us know.

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