sympathetic nervous system). If your glucose uptake is inhibited, you are less able to refuel before, during, and after your workouts. While there is not much further scientific study into the precise effect of sleep on athletic recovery (see Samuels 2009), there is agreement among athletes, coaches and physiologists that sleep matters. You’ll need to pay attention to your own sleep habits to determine what is the optimal amount for you. As disturbed sleep can be a strong indicator of overtraining, it’s critical to keep an eye on your sleep habits. This might mean tracking the number of hours you sleep as well as the quality of your sleep, and you might also note how alert you feel during the day. If you see a deterioration, set aside time to repay your sleep debt,
dropping a workout or two if necessary so you can sleep in. What happens during sleep
As you sleep, you progress through four stages: three non–rapid eye movement (NREM) stages, and one rapid eye movement stage, REM sleep. Stage NREM1, light sleep, involves a relaxation of your muscles and slowing eye movements — it’s the period where you’re drifting into and out of sleep. In stage NREM2, your eyes
stop moving, and your brain waves slow. Stage NREM3 includes the very slow brain waves called delta waves; you are in deep sleep. Your endocrine system releases hormones including growth hormone, which is critical to your adaptation to training. REM, rapid eye movement sleep, is the fourth stage, often coming 70 to 90 minutes into the cycle. During this period, you consolidate memories and ingrain skills, which is obviously important for your athletic performance. A full cycle takes an hour and a half to two hours, then repeats NREM2, NREM3, and REM sleep. As the night wears on, the amount of REM sleep increases, and the time spent in stage NREM3 decreases. We need adequate amounts of all types of sleep to function well and to recover fully.
How much sleep to get
In an ideal world, you’d fall asleep about 20 minutes after climbing into bed. Nodding off quicker can be a sign of sleep debt. Then, ideally, you’d sleep until you were done sleeping, which we sometimes call being “slept out.” For many people, this will be slightly over eight hours per night, enough to let you wake up without needing an alarm. If you do not get enough sleep each night, you’ll accrue “sleep debt,” for which your body will
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