Sleeping for your best performance

Interaction between sleep and sport

Sleep is healthy, and so is exercise - everyone seems to be aware of that. However, knowledge about how these building blocks of health impact each other positively or negatively is somewhat less widespread. We'll shed some light on this and explain the interaction between sleep and exercise.

Why is sleep important for sport?
Whether in everyday life or engaging in sports activities, we perform best when we are well rested. However, the magical moments happen not just when we are awake. On the contrary, when we are in deep sleep, processes that are just as important and complex as in our active phases are in progress. While at rest cells are repaired and regenerated, information is processed, synapses are linked or the hormone cocktail from the working day is regulated.

All these processes ensure that we recover from sport and are better equipped for upcoming challenges. Processing information overnight stores and reinforces recently learned movements. Movement learning therefore takes place while we sleep, so to speak. Muscles also grow overnight, so to speak. While we sleep, the release of growth hormones ensures cell regeneration, muscle building and training adaptations.

In addition, sufficient sleep strengthens the immune system, which reduces susceptibility to illness and can therefore prevent interruption to training due to colds, fever or flu. However, the strengthened immune system helps with other illnesses besides short-term health problems. Diseases, which are promoted by a lack of cell repair or too much stress hormones in the body, can also be positively impacted by an optimal combination of sleep and sport. In addition, good quality sleep reduces the risk of injury during sports, as fatigue impairs reaction time. This can lead to the crucial millisecond being missed to prevent the accident. More injuries can also occur because the sleep deficit slows down cell regeneration and the body in general becomes more vulnerable.

Sleep, the miracle cure
In conclusion, it can be said that training and sport can only be fully impact health promotion or performance enhancement when combined with sufficient sleep. The required amount of sleep depends upon the individual and on the stress exerted. One thing is clear: The more rigorous the training and everyday life, the greater the amount of sleep required.