The Dangers Of Sleep Deprivation

College life is full of fun, hard work, and tough decisions. But where in the middle of all that is there time to sleep? Whether you're an athlete or not, time for sleep should be made to improve performance both on and off the field.

Off the Field: No sleep= Reduced Mental Capability
Your mental functioning deteriorates at double the rate of your physical functioning. While you sleep, your brain sorts through all the information you took in throughout the day. If you are missing out on sleep, you may feel physically fine but can't remember information you learned in practice or class yesterday. You may also struggle to make quick and effective decisions.

On The Field: No Sleep= Muscle Deterioration and Limited Energy Storage
Not getting enough sleep can increase the body's stress hormone, cortisol. Cortisol limits the amount of carbohydrates your body can store, thus decreasing your ability to produce energy. In addition, cortisol promotes muscle deterioration and loss of lean body mass.

Vitamin C- Boost Your Immune Strength!

Vitamin C is one of the most talked about antioxidants in the health and fitness field today. Theres good reason too- Vitamin C supplies your body with a proven host
of powerful benefits.

Benefits of Vitamin C include:

Increased Immune System Strength
Increased Wound Healing Ability
Increased Iron Absorption
Reduced damage done by exercise incuced free radicals

How Vitamin C Can Help An Athlete
High intensity exercise can cause the production of free radicals, highly unstable molecules which can destroy other important cells in the body. While it is important that the body does produce some free radicals, the amount body cannot sustain the high amount caused by exercise. Vitamin C can help by stabilizing the free radicals so they won't cause damage to other cells.

Sources of Vitamin C
Fruits and vegetables, especially red pepper, brocolli, kiwi, and citrus fruits

More is not necessarily better
Vitamin C cannot be stored in the body, making it useless to comsume more than 100% DV. Each vitamin C tablet provided in the MATC weightroom is more than enough for one days intake of Vitamin C.