The next time you’re in the local Barnes & Nobles or Chapters, browse through the “fitness” and “exercise” section. Notice how many books have been written on the topic of strength training, supplements and nutrition. Then look at how many have been dedicated to getting a good night’s sleep, or talk about the quality of sleep and its effect on the body in relation to strength training. If you’re lucky, you might find a chapter somewhere that touches briefly on the subject. The impact that sleep has on overall health, body composition, performance and recovery means that it should rank high on any list of strength-training priorities. It is also equally important that people realize why a nap can do the body good—even after a full 8 hours of sleep a night.

Did You Know?

The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) reports that:

The average adult sleeps under 7 hours a night during a work week.

33% of adults surveyed sleep only 61/2 hours nightly.

40% of adults admit that the quality of their work suffers when they're sleepy.

68% say their ability to concentrate is diminished by sleepiness.

19% report making mistakes and errors due to sleepiness.

Sleepy drivers cause approximately 100,000 car crashes annually.

33% of adults surveyed would nap at work, if allowed.

Sleep can be defined as an anabolic state since it increases the process of growth, and contributes to the restoration of the immune, nervous, and muscular systems. It is also responsible for maintaining normal levels of cognitive skills such as speech, memory, innovative and flexible thinking. In other words, sleep is an essential part of life. The world record for the longest period without sleep (11 days) was set by Randy Gardner in 1965. It’s up there with all those other body-abusing milestones, such as the ones which deny the body food and water for long periods of time.  

Sleep Overview

Those of us who live an active life should every day, give-in to a snooze, come mid afternoon. However, to appreciate why we need to include this nap in our daily routines requires a quick overview of the mechanism of sleep.

After a long day, it’s time for bed. You prepare your meals for the next day, gulp down your last protein shake or meal and then the lights go out. But wait—there’s more to sleep then just closing your eyes and then pulling yourself out of bed the next morning.

There are 5 stages that the body goes through during a good night’s rest. The first stage of sleep, called non-rapid eye movement (NREM) contributes to the physical regeneration of the body. Although more info is needed, NREM has also been said to be responsible for the bolstering of the immune system. NREM is known as a transitional stage between waking and sleeping and lasts for approximately 5-10 minutes. During this period, breathing slows down, the heart rate decreases, the eyeballs start rolling and drowsiness occurs.

Moving into stage two of sleep, eye movements disappear, images start to pass through the mind, the muscles start to relax and the body starts to shut down.

In stage three, breathing becomes increasingly slower as does the heart rate. Stages three and four are usually grouped together. These two stages are referred to as “Delta Sleep” or “Slow Wave Sleep.” This stage is probably the most important stage for weight trainers as growth hormone (GH) is released (1,2,). GH is responsible for a number of things. Increased mental alertness, increased strength, increased feeling of well-being, decreased body fat and improved neurological function.  The fifth and final stage of sleep is rapid eye movement (REM) otherwise known as “Dream Sleep”. During REM the brain is very active, dreams occur at this stage as well as paralysis of the muscles. Other characteristics are irregular breathing, increased heart rate, and rapid eye movements.

In total, the brain’s sleeping pattern repeats its cycle every 90-120 minutes. The brain will move from a light sleep, to a deep sleep then to a mentally active sleep and finally back to a light sleep. This cycle will repeat itself 2-7 times in young and middle-aged adults (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).

Typical sleep cycle