Dr Sarah Gilchrist has a doctorate in sleep and athletic performance, and formerly worked with GB rowers at the Beijing and Rio Olympics. She’s now helping recreational athletes. In short, Gilchrist is an authority on advising sportspeople on how to regenerate and come back stronger.<\/p>
\u201cAll of us have a 90-minute sleep cycle that covers four stages,\u201d she says. \u201cThe first couple of stages are light sleep, so if you were to nap for 20 to 30 minutes, that\u2019s what you\u2019d fall into. Your fourth stage is the rapid eye movement [REM] stage, where you tend to dream and is related to emotional control. So, our mental health, positive consolidation of emotions and coping strategies.<\/p>
\u201cIt\u2019s the third stage where you enter deep sleep, which is often called \u2018slow wave sleep\u2019 and occurs about 60 minutes in. This is where recuperation and restoration happens. At a physiological level, this is the time when growth hormone is released, glucose metabolism is regulated and protein<\/a> synthesis cranks up. Both are essential to build muscle. <\/p> “It\u2019s also the time for memory consolidation, a place where you take things on cognitively. That means skill acquisition, like handling your bike better.\u201d<\/p> According to a 2021 sleep consensus statement<\/a> in the British Journal of Sports Medicine<\/em>, \u201cthe duration and composition of normal sleep changes across the life cycle. At the ages relevant to aspiring and established athletes, a sleep of eight to 10 hours for an adolescent (aged 15 years) contains approximately 57% light sleep, 22% deep sleep and 21% REM sleep; and a sleep of seven to nine hours for a young adult (aged 30 years) contains around 61% light sleep, 16% deep sleep and 23% REM sleep\u201d.\u00a0<\/p> This slight age-related reduction in deep sleep is down to the significant growth seen in the teenage years.<\/p> That same paper, although aimed at elite athletes, highlighted how 50 to 78 per cent of athletes experience sleep disturbance, while 22 to 26 per cent suffer highly disturbed sleep.\u00a0<\/p> That significantly impairs both the deep and REM sleep stages, which has repercussions for both cycling performance<\/a> and general health.<\/p> \u201cThere are many studies that show the determinantal impact of \u2018sleep restriction\u2019 on an athlete,\u201d says Gilchrist. \u201cOne study took a group of athletes, put them to bed, woke them up at nightly three-hour intervals and sent them back to sleep again. They showed that an athlete\u2019s physical prowess and psychomotor skills were reduced.\u201d<\/p> \u201cYou see a fall in stamina at submaximal levels,\u201d adds Gilchrist. \u201cIt\u2019s the same on the anaerobic side, where maximal power output drops, and the same\u2019s been seen with a tennis serve. Speed drops through consistent lack of sleep, which is down to a drop in isometric force. <\/p> “Slower reaction time and poor decision making, plus a greater chance of injury and illness\u2026 It\u2019s all bad. We also know that chronic lack of sleep leads to certain diseases later in life.\u201d<\/p> How do you know if you\u2019re lacking deep sleep? Apart from that foggy grumpiness, because it\u2019s clearly a key part of the 90-minute cycle, anyone who sleeps for less than the recommended number of hours is likely to record insufficient deep sleep.\u00a0<\/p> So, what can be done? Well, playing to your performance and sleep strengths will help. Your chronotype is the natural inclination of your body to sleep at a certain time, or what\u2019s more commonly known as being a lark or an owl.<\/p> \u201cAgain, there have been studies into this. One study found about 50 per cent of elite athletes were morning types, around 9 per cent were evening types and the rest sat somewhere in between. For the general population, you see various numbers bandied about, but it tends to be a third of people morning, a third in the evening and a third in between.\u201d\u00a0<\/p> You\u2019ll know if you\u2019re a morning type because you may be almost irritatingly chatty over morning coffee. The reverse is often true of evening types.<\/p> In a perfect world, training to match your chronotype will maximise gains and help you sleep better later on. That\u2019s the ideal. Which arguably isn\u2019t realistic. What happens, for instance, if you\u2019re a morning type who has no other option but to squeeze in an evening gym session? How can you boost your chances of a good night\u2019s sleep?<\/p> \u201cWhen you exercise, typically your adrenaline levels rise, cortisol increases, your heart rate goes up, as does your core temperature. None of that is conducive to sleep,\u201d says Gilchrist. \u201cBut you can be strategic to improve your chances of sleeping well.<\/p> \u201cI\u2019d advise eating your main meal earlier in the day and a snack after your session, as too much food cuts your chances of falling asleep. Hydrate but don\u2019t drink too much as you\u2019ll spend all night visiting the loo.<\/p> \u201cShower, stretch and have some downtime before hitting the sack, as it\u2019s beneficial to lose a little quantity if quality\u2019s higher. The next day, you should return to your normal sleep routine.\u201d<\/p> That downtime is key, says Gilchrist, who adds that watching TV is fine as long as you ensure your choice of programming isn\u2019t too stimulating. It\u2019s the same with scrolling on your smartphone, which taps into a recent development in the world of sleep \u2013 that while bedtime smartphone use isn\u2019t advised, it\u2019s not because of the blue light.<\/p> \u201cProfessor Michael Gradisar\u2019s doing a lot of research on this and observed that the blue light emanating from our phones isn\u2019t strong enough to suppress melatonin, which is the hormone that tells you to sleep,\u201d says Gilchrist. <\/p> \u201cThe problem is actually more the \u2018scroll hole\u2019 you might fall into when looking at platforms like Instagram or YouTube. It\u2019s arousing and can inhibit sleep.\u201d<\/p> Further raising your chances of proficient sleep, and deep sleep, are the use of eye masks, banishing caffeine<\/a> after lunchtime, changing the tog of your duvet to match the season and consuming tryptophan-heavy foods.<\/p> \u201cTryptophan is a precursor to melatonin and is found in milk, almonds, many plant-based foods and turkey,\u201d says Gilchrist. \u201cWe used to get through so much turkey mince with the rowers to help them sleep.\u201d<\/p>The impact of poor sleep<\/h2>
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Know your chronotype<\/h2>
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Be sleep strategic<\/h2>
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