Performance nutritionist and LYIT lecturer Dr Rónán Doherty joined the RTÉ Running Podcast to discuss the importance of sleep to athletes, and the environmental and nutritional factors which can lead to a better night's slumber.
The amount of sleep humans require to perform at their best can vary, with age and genetics influencing the ideal number of hours spent asleep, but it's unlikely to be the case that less is more for those competing in sport.
"For adults, people running from 18 to 65, we know that somewhere around seven to nine hours per night is optimal," Doherty said.
"Six to seven might be fine for some people, and nine to 11 might be what's required for other people, particularly athletes or anyone who is highly active, because of the training load and the extra stress they're placing on their bodies.
"They need more sleep for more recovery.
"There's mental and physical recovery. I use the analogy of charging your phone, plugging yourself in and recharging your battery – you get mental and physical recovery.
"There are two basic states of sleep – NREM and REM sleep – non-rapid eye movement and rapid eye movement sleep. They're both associated with different types of recovery.
"REM sleep is associated with dreaming and cognitive recovery, and NREM sleep is associated with growth hormone release. That deep sleep facilitates physical recovery."
An active lifestyle can and does aid sleep for many, but overtraining can have a negative impact on sleep quality.
"We do know that people who are active tend to sleep better, to a point," Doherty added. "Part of it is that they're more tired, they're more active, they're challenging themselves more, so they need more sleep.
"But we also know that if someone has overtrained – training too much and not recovering properly, then that can have a negative impact on sleep."
Creating ideal sleep opportunities in the lead-in to a race, banking extra sleep and avoiding anxiety all contribute to improved athletic output, as can certain sleep hygiene measures, whether home or away.
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"If possible, people can bring their own pillow with them, that can make them more comfortable," the Buncrana man said of preparing for an away fixture. "The temperature of the room is quite important, it needs to be in and around 18C to 21C to promote sleep. You don't want to be too hot, but equally you don't want to be too cold.
"Hands and feet need to be warm to promote sleep and one thing that helps with anxiety is journalling or doing a to-do list. Even just mentally noting three things you want to do the following day.
"If that's a race, then maybe thinking about "if this happens, this is what I want to do", or even visualising yourself running the race."
The power nap is a key component in the routines of many athletes, with durations of 30 or 90 minutes recommended, and the timing also matters. Snoozing later in the day could disrupt that night's sleep.
"We try and schedule those naps in the mid-afternoon, in and around 2 or 3pm, around 12 hours from the middle of the previous night's sleep."
A coffee before that nap should stave off the sleep inertia and grogginess that can accompany 40 winks in the afternoon on wakening, but caffeine should be avoided after that point, despite the stimulant having a variable response in terms of sensitivity.
The blue light emitted from electronic devices is known to disrupt sleep, meaning your screen time should end two hours before bed, although Doherty admitted that for most, this would be no more than aspirational.
Athletes are honed on the road, but also in the kitchen, where HGI carbohydrates and the amino acid tryptophan should be major nutritional diet goals.
"We know that HGI carbohydrates in the evening meal will promote sleep, jasmine rice for example.
"We also know that tryptophan-rich protein promotes sleep, things like turkey, pumpkin seeds and milk. A cup of hot chocolate an hour before bed is high in tryptophan, so that can promote sleep.
"Tart cherry juice, which some of your listeners might use for recovery, is high in melatonin or promotes the synthesis of melatonin which promotes sleep.
"Kiwi fruit – I'm actually about to publish a study on kiwi consumption – but two kiwis an hour before bed promotes sleep and has a positive impact on recovery as well."
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