Importance of sleep on your (training) performance

Sleep is the neglected child when we want to work on our health. Everyone is actually aware of the importance of sleep, and yet few people make it a priority.

No one benefits from (too) little sleep. Lack of sleep not only makes us less vital, but will actually lead to medical conditions in the (long) term. Additionally, we become less alert and performance declines, both at work (due to reduced productivity) and during training.

How much does your sleep affect your strength, performance, and overall well-being?

Long story short, a lot! Additionally, you are also more susceptible to stress if you have a sleep deficit or sleep debt. Even the risk of being overweight increases due to increased appetite, and the increased metabolism gained from training/exercising is negated.

On average, 7 to 9 hours of sleep is sufficient for adults. While an inactive person usually manages well with 8 hours, an active athlete might require closer to 9 hours to recover properly physically.

You can tell you are not getting enough sleep if you do not feel rested and, for example, during the day, through unexplained tiredness, experiencing a post-lunch slump, a tendency to doze off, and concentration and memory problems. Reasons for insufficient sleep can be divided into three categories: internal (thoughts, feelings, worrying), external (caffeine, medication, screen use), and habits (rhythm and routine, bedtime ritual).

What can you do, for example?

1. Maintain the same rhythm as much as possible. Go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends.
2. (Strength) training can improve your sleep and sleep quality.
3. Do not take screens or electronics to bed. This causes too much stimulation, and the blue light disrupts your circadian rhythm.
4. Make sure your bedroom is cool and dark. Around 18 degrees is the ideal temperature.
5. If you often have to get up to urinate, limit your fluid intake before going to sleep.
6. Eat carbohydrates 1-3 hours before going to sleep. This increases the absorption of beneficial substances that make you calm and sleepy.
7. Take naps during the day. Naps of 10 to 30 minutes improve performance for about 2.5 hours after the nap.

Below is a to-do assignment to gain insight into your sleep quality:

Track your sleep for a week. What are you going to track?

1. How long did you sleep?
2. How was the sleep quality?
3. Do you wake up feeling rested?
4. How did you feel that day?
5. Do you tend to doze off?

Give all the points above a score from 0 to 10. If, after this week, you find that you are really not sleeping enough, look at the points above and make sure you get a higher score on those points. This will improve your sleep.