ZMA, Sleep and Muscle Growth

One of the most important training tools in your weight training arsenal is one you probably pay the least attention to: Sleep. Here's why.

When you lift heavy weights, you're creating microscopic tears in the muscle fibers--but don’t worry, that's a good thing. The muscle tissue then repairs itself by forming scar tissue over the small tears. It's what's referred to as muscular hypertrophy.

Eating the right nutrients, like protein, is important for your body to repair muscle tissue. But more importantly, your body needs to rest for an extended period of time to start repairing its muscle tissue. That's why sleep is vital to muscle growth. If you're not getting enough sleep, your body isn't getting adequate time to completely repair your muscles.

Try to get 7 to 8 hours of quality sleep every night. Prioritize your sleep as you would your training. And if you have trouble falling asleep, strength training guru Charles Poliquin suggests taking ZMA supplements.

"About 54-75 percent of the American population is deficient in magnesium. The percentages for zinc are somewhat greater. I've found that both zinc and magnesium are deficient in 100 percent of the athletes who come into my clinic," Poliquin notes. "When I gave ZMA to my athletes, virtually all of them reported better quality of sleep, an essential factor in maximizing recovery."

According to Poliquin, you can expect results to be the greatest after 6 weeks of use.