Sleep is Your Best Recovery Strategy

From the Loehr Report, Volume 1, No. 4, NBTA Sport Science Department.  Jim Loehr, Editor.

There are two types of sleep - rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM.  Brain research has taught us that we go through 5 stages of sleep 4 or 5 times each night, each cycle lasting between 60 and 90 minutes.  The first two stages take up nearly 50% of the total sleep time and are called light sleep.  During these early stages of sleep, muscles relax and brain wave frequency slows to 4-8 cycles per second.  Blood pressure and body temperature decline.  We are easily awakened during this period.

The "good night's sleep" occurs in stages 3 and 4 when sleep deepens and brain wave activity slows to less than 4 cycles per second.  Muscles become totally relaxed and metabolic rate reaches its lowest level.  Stages 3 and 4 not only give us the feeling of being fully rested but also seem important to healing, fighting infections, tissue repair, etc.  The body's growth hormone is also released during this time.  This is why children who are deprived of adequate sleep for long periods of time do not grow as fast or as tall as they should.

Stage 5 consumes between 20 and 50% of your total sleeping time.  It is referred to as REM sleep.  The first REM cycle typically starts 90-100 minutes after falling into sleep.  Heart rate and blood pressure fluxuate considerably during this period.  Breathing quickens and brain waves pulsate between 13 and 35 cycles per second.  REM sleep is the period when dreams occur.  Dreams appear important for both learning and cognitive function.  REM cycles become larger and more intense at the end of the night.  Disruptions of sleep during this stage can be disruptive to the learning process.

What else does sleep do for us?  Before awakening, the secretion of a stress hormone called cortisol begins, which increases mental and physical arousal in preparation for the day's activities.  Inadequate sleep can reduce thinking efficiency, cause a wide range of concentration problems and negatively affect coordination and reaction time.  Many people become irritable and feel stressed when normal sleep cycles are disrupted.  People also report more headaches, pain and illness during periods of sleep deprivation.  Anxiety and poor self-image are also reported consequences.  So, inadequate sleep influences job and athletic performance, safety and causes social phobia.  The result is less efficiency and less productivity.  Chronic sleep deprivation also impacts life expectancy.  People getting optimum sleep and following other healthful habits live longer.

People tend to sleep one third of 24 hours (8 hours) when not using an alarm.  In order to find out how much sleep you need, you should sleep and wake up naturally without an alarm for 5 consecutive days.  In general, you need more sleep if you feel tired upon awakening and have slept less than 8 hours.  f you have trouble sleeping, follow these principles:

Last modified: 05/06/11