Recovery for Week 2

Last week, we went over the basics of how muscles grow and the importance of relaxation to muscle growth. It is vitally important that you learn how to relax and get plenty of sleep every night. Consider 8 hours to be a minimum.

This week, we're going to talk about a fundamental practice you should follow if you want to maximize your muscle growth.

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That practice is consistency.

Research has shown that people are more restful on any given day not only because they got a sound 8 hours' worth of sleep, but also because they fell asleep and woke up at the same time each day.

Schedule your sleep!

If you have children, you probably already follow this practice — for them! It's a well-known parenting principle that you put your kids to bed each night following the same exact routine every single night; you may read them books, give them some milk, brush their teeth, and then put them in bed.

This works best if you put them down at the same time each night.

You should be doing the same for yourself!

Research has also found that even more important than going to sleep at the same time each night is rising the next morning at the same time.

Whether – for whatever reason – you fall asleep earlier or later than plan, always try to wake up at the same time each morning. Now, if you got in at 4am and you normally get up at 5am, you may want to disregard this advice

(However, I will ask you this – why in the world were you out so late? You simply cannot live a playboy's life and expect to make rapid progress with this – or any – system!)

You will find that after several weeks of following a consistent sleep plan that you will fall asleep and awaken at nearly the same time every day. Your muscles will thank you for this by growing as fast as possible.

More importantly, your mind, which controls everything, thrives on this consistency. Your subconscious becomes quite comfortable with the routine and actually starts reinforcing the good behavior, such that every goal you set for yourself becomes ever easier to attain!

This is powerful stuff.

To recap:

• Follow the same pre-sleep routine every single night. You may read, meditate, or have a light snack before bed.
• Go to sleep at the same time each night.
• Wake up at the same time every day.
• Get at least 8 hours of sleep a night. The more restful, the better!

That's it for Week 2! See you next week!

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