Sleep or Exercise: What\’s More Important?

“I wake up at 5AM and go to exercise!”

I often hear this proud exclamation after doing one of my speaking engagements, or with new clients during our Dream Body MAP Sessions. I then ask “how’s that working for ya?” More often than not, the answer is not so good.

Original source: here.

            God bless our puritanical work ethic, but if there’s a choice between getting an adequate amount of sleep, or exercising, most (but not all) of the time, I tell the person that sleep in that case is more important. Of course, in an ideal world, we would want both adequate sleep, and the right amount (and type) of exercise.

If your only time to exercise is 5AM, I hope you go to bed at 8 or 9PM. This way, by the time 5AM comes around, you’ve had an adequate amount of sleep.

Think about it this way: if you were meant to do something for one third of your life (like sleeping), that must mean that your body thinks it’s pretty important. So one of the best things you can do for your mood, energy levels, and even body fat is get enough quality sleep.

If our clients are not sleeping properly, that is often the very first thing we address. That’s before even talking about nutrition or exercise. That’s how important it is.

In fact, in this 2-minute video, Marc Groleau explains how despite eating right and exercising, he and his wife weren’t able to lose a few stubborn pounds until they got their sleep back on track (tough to do when there’s a newborn baby in the house).