What happens when we don’t get enough sleep?
- Inadequate recovery – sleep is key to recovery, and recovery post exercise is key to progression, if we don’t recover enough we run the risk of overtraining and becoming injured. This can lead to an increased perception of DOMS and lack of motivation to exercise.
- Increased stress – prolonged fight or flight state using energy up we need to exercise, stress can impact many different factors of our lives. Chronic prolonged inadequate sleep can lead to an effect on mental wellbeing.
- Decreased reaction times– the more tired we are the less reactive we become, making the likelihood that we’ll overstep or miss a cue due to a delayed reaction
- Decreased learning capacity – when we learn skills we need to fine tune them, sleep is crucial to motor control and memory letting us build these patterns to use next time we need them.
- Lower overall health – not enough sleep can lead to an increase in illness due to an effect on the immune system – our bodies reaction to not having all the required elements it needs to function at its peak
Why is this important?
Research has shown that those who get less than 8hours sleep were at an increased risk of injury.
Sleep is something we can put measures in place to control and is a simple component to increase recovery and decrease the risk of injury or performance impairment. Aim for 7-9 hours per night if possible and see how you feel!