Sleep for Recovery and Performance: Are you getting enough?

Dr. Jessica Robinson, PT, DPT

“The goal of any recovery strategy is to reduce the amount of time it takes for the body to return to baseline or to get better” (NASM). It should be viewed as a planned strategy to optimize the time between training sessions in order to come back stronger or at a higher level than when you began. While there are many recovery strategies, we will highlight an important but often sacrificed one here…sleep.

We all know that sleep is beneficial, but just what exactly does it do for us, and why is it so important? Sleep plays a critical role in memory, immune function, metabolism, learning, productivity, and overall mood. Poor or insufficient sleep is actually a risk factor for injury and delayed recovery. Not only is the amount of sleep important but also the quality and consistency in which you get it.

As you fall into deeper stages of sleep, blood flow increases to your muscles which in turn brings oxygen and nutrients that help regenerate cells and repair muscle tissue that may have been damaged during exercise. Your body also releases hormones such as human growth hormone (HGH) and prolactin which stimulate muscle growth and repair as well as regulate inflammation, amongst others.

For athletes/athletic individuals, insufficient sleep can impact reaction time, recovery, and overall performance as well as career longevity and injury risk. It has been shown that athletes who get less than 6 hours of sleep the night before play are 1.7 times more likely to be injured when compared to those who got 8+ hours per night.
Sleep requirements for the general population are recommended as 7-9 hours per night. However, everyone is different. As for athletes, individuals less than 24 years old require 9-10 hours per night, whereas individuals 25+ years old require about 8-10 hours per night.

A sleep extension study performed with collegiate basketball players showed a 9% improvement in free throw shooting accuracy and 9.2% improvement in field goal 3-point shooting when players received a minimum of 10 hours of sleep each night over a 5-7 week period compared to their normal sleep-wake schedule. Players also reported improvement in overall physical and mental well-being as well as more enjoyment during practices. Similarly, collegiate swimmers who extended their sleep to 10 hours per night demonstrated a 20% improvement in reaction time of the block, 10% improvement in turn time efficiency, and 8% improvement in sprint speed.

We can see the many benefits of sleep for performance, recovery, and injury prevention, but many people still find it difficult to get enough sleep or enough quality sleep. Some common barriers to proper sleep include:

• Pathology or disorders: pain, sleep apnea, insomnia
• Lifestyle or environmental: alcohol/drugs/caffeine, stress, noise/air quality/light exposure, sleep hygiene
• Schedule: training or meetings, travel/time zone changes, work hours or commute

Despite these barriers, there are ways to help improve your sleep and sleep habits.

• Create a nighttime routine: doing the same thing every night before bed or in preparation for bed can be an effective way of setting your body’s natural alarm clock to alert you that it will soon be time to go to sleep.
• Strategies for winding down: turn off all screens, take a hot shower, stretching or mobility exercises, breathing techniques or meditation, listen to relaxing music, preparing for the next day
• Create a comfortable sleep environment: make sure the room is dark, set the temperature to ~ 67o F, use ear plugs or a sleep mask or reduce unwanted noise with a fan or white noise machine

Remember, recovery DAY is essential, but also be sure you’re getting regular, consistent recovery NIGHTS!

1. Mah CD, Mah KE, Kezirian EJ, Dement WC. The effects of sleep extension on the athletic performance of collegiate basketball players. NCBI. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3119836/. Published July 1, 2011. 
2. Extra Sleep Improves Athletic Performance. ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080609071106.htm
3. NASM.org
4. Leada Malek, PT, DPT, SCS​