More Sleep Leads to Better Performance
Endurance athletes benefit from extra sleep.
Before your next endurance event, try getting a few extra sleep hours. Study findings by Deakin University researchers in Australia show athletes who slept longer than usual for 3 nights in a row performed better in a cycling time trial than athletes who slept normally or who restricted their sleep. Extra sleep altered the perception of exertion, enabling athletes to work harder at a given exercise intensity than those who slept less.
The study was reported in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (2019; 51 [12], 2516–23).
Shirley Eichenberger-Archer, JD, MA
Shirley Eichenberger-Archer, JD, MA, is an internationally acknowledged integrative health and mindfulness specialist, best-selling author of 16 fitness and wellness books translated into multiple languages and sold worldwide, award-winning health journalist, contributing editor to Fitness Journal, media spokesperson, and IDEA's 2008 Fitness Instructor of the Year. She's a 25-year industry veteran and former health and fitness educator at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, who has served on multiple industry committees and co-authored trade books and manuals for ACE, ACSM and YMCA of the USA. She has appeared on TV worldwide and was a featured trainer on America's Next Top Model.
