8 Benefits of a Good Nights Sleep

Let's be honest. It's not the most exciting topic in the world. I'm going to quickly fire 8 benefits of sleep at you before you start to fall asleep on me

I'll be honest. Sleeps not the most exciting topic in the world is it?

While there are ripped personal trainers in expensive yachts on beautiful beaches, dancing around in their undies, taking photos for the gram and cashing in all the likes

There's me bloody writing about sleep while my dog dribbles on my lap

Not quite as "sexy" is it?

The difference is I didn't write this post to get tonnes of likes or followers

I wrote it because it's RIDICULOUSLY IMPORTANT to your health and wellness

I'm not here to be the most liked trainer in the world but to hopefully be one of the most useful ones

So to jazz up this post a bit I'll share a few stories from my life related to the benefits

Feel free to skip them if you're after a punchy read!

Let's go!

1. SLEEP REDUCES STRESS

When your body is sleep-deprived, it goes into a state of stress

This stress increases your blood pressure which increases your chances of a stroke or heart attack

The ironic thing is that these stress hormones also make it harder to fall asleep come bedtime

Sleep is absolutely essential for reducing stress and anxiety in our lives and it should be the very first thing we focus on when we're dealing with a stressful situation or lifestyle

Ben's Story: The other weekend my awesome girlfriend drove me all the way to Leeds (5-hour journey) to pick up an old truck I found on Facebook

It was a big, butt-ugly truck from the 90s that I'm planning on turning into my off-road beast (follow me on Instagram if you want to see how it's getting on)

Logically, 7 minutes after purchasing it I broke down on the hard shoulder with white smoke billowing out of it like a hipsters vape pen

I got dumped in the local village by the recovery man and had to wait for 7 hours to catch an overnight bus back to London and then picked up by the gf

Needless to say, I probably got about an hours sleep and jeeeeze

I was so anxious the next day! I just felt so stressed, anxious, worried and panicky

Not because of my truck. I just felt awful. I couldn't stop overthinking work and my career and my house move and... everything!

That night really highlighted what a good nights sleep can do for me!

2. SLEEP REDUCES INFLAMMATION

Increased stress hormones caused by lack of sleep raises the level of inflammation in the body. This creates a greater risk for heart-related conditions

Inflammation is also thought to cause the body to degenerate as we age

In other words, sleeping will help keep you look younger!