Sleep. Part 1.
I thought I would write some posts with info about how to optimise wellbeing during training for a challenge event….. but where to start? There is so much I could say about training plans, and the benefits of physical activity, and all the different tactics for nutrition. In fact, diet & nutrition is a whole book, or even library, all by itself.
Start with a a good night sleep
But first, I am going to start with thinking about sleep. The importance of sleep is often overlooked, but it is absolutely critical to our health and wellbeing. Evidence shows that getting enough sleep, and good quality sleep, is linked to improved health and reduced risk of disease.
But even more than maintaining our bodies’ normal everyday functions, sleep can actually improve our ability to perform. Prof. Matthew Walker, international sleep expert, has described sleep as “one of the most potent and powerful – not to mention legal – performance enhancers”.
If it’s good enough for them…
Professional athletes are already putting this into practice. Roger Federer, multiple tennis Gland-Slam winner, regularly sleeps 12hours per night. Usain Bolt has regular naps, particularly before big events, and famously was asleep less than an hour before his world-record breaking Olympic Gold record. Several premier league football clubs employ sleep coaches alongside their training coaches.
…then it’s good enough for us too.
For us non-professional-athletes, the same benefits of getting enough sleep still apply, and getting insufficient sleep leads to decreased performance. If you get less than eight hours per night, the time it takes to reach physical exhaustion drops by between 10%-30%, and aerobic output is also significantly reduced. This effect is even more if you get less than 6hours sleep. As well as reduced aerobic fitness, lack of sleep also leads to reduced muscle strength, and less efficient metabolism.
The good news is that all these things improve quickly with getting enough good quality sleep. So when thinking about training for this event, maybe start with looking at getting a good night’s sleep.
Coming up: in my next post I will look at ways to achieve that good quality sleep….
Reference: “why we sleep” Prof.M.Walker. ISBN 9780141983769
