While some people seem to be able to function on very little sleep, the truth is that if you want to be a strong cyclist, you will need to prioritize your sleep. Personally, sleep is the undisputed king of recovery, without enough quality sleep, you will soon find yourself struggling to perform on the bike.
Covered in this blog:
- Why cyclists need more sleep
- Your muscles love sleep
- How much sleep do cyclists need?
- How to get quality sleep
- Top tips for a good night sleep
- How napping can help cyclists
Why cyclists need more sleep
You don’t actually improve on the bike, you improve off it. While you need the stress of training to force your body into adapting, the adaptation itself only occurs when you recover. While there are many ways to optimize recovery, my personal number one is sleep.
Your muscles love sleep
Lack of sleep doesn’t just inhibit muscle repair, leading to a heightened risk of injury and worser cycling performance, it also increases the presence of the hormone cortisol in the body.
According to the Sleep Foundation, during sleep, your body rotates through three non-REM sleep stages (N1-3) and then REM, with each full rotation lasting for ~90 minutes. During the N3 stage, blood is sent to the muscles to aid tissue repair and growth. This period of restorative, deep sleep is when energy is restored and the human growth hormone (HGH) is released.
How much sleep do cyclists need?
Most athletes get the amount slightly wrong; almost exclusively they all underestimate the amount of sleep they need. They have families, work commitments, and other distractions, that inevitably means they get to bed late or have to get up early.
To maximise your recovery, thus improving your cycling performance, you should aim for a solid 7-8 hours of sleep per night; not much more and certainly not any less. However, 8 hours of crap sleep might be no better than 5 or 6 of good sleep, so how can you be certain to get the best quality sleep?
How to get quality sleep
Oddly enough, this is actually the factor everyone tends to get wrong too. However, it’s the one we really all know how to get right, we just don’t…
‘Sleep hygiene’ is not about changing your sheets (although please ensure you do this regularly…), it’s about implementing a routine that will aid your sleep, thus improving your recovery, and increasing your performance in your cycling training. While some of the suggestions might seem daunting and overwhelming, they are all quite easy, and you will be astonished by just how good you feel, once you get these right.
Perhaps the most important factor for improving your sleep quality is to go to bed, and get up, at a regular time. Second is to learn to treat your bedroom as an area of relaxation; use an alarm clock rather than your phone (or rise with the light, if possible), and leave all devices in another room.
Alongside your bedroom digital detox, avoid training sessions that are later in the day, drinking caffeine in the afternoon, or drinking alcohol at all (probably the worst thing to do when trying to sleep well).
You also need to relax before getting into bed. This can be some quiet, alone time, or meditation before bed. Maybe it’s a hot bath with Epsom salts. Avoid going to bed in a bad mood, you’ll sleep poorly and wake up feeling the same. Just chill!
Lastly, consider your environment. You can start with noise or light, adding blackout blinds or using ear plugs if necessary. However, consider extending this to the cleanliness of your bedroom. A cluttered, disorganised, and messy bedroom might not be the best environment for a good night sleep.
Top tips for a good night sleep
In no specific order, here are my top tips for getting a good night sleep:
- Go to bed at the same time every night
- Get up in the morning at the same time everyday
- Ensure your bedroom is comfortable (especially temperature)
- Turn off any light emitting devices (such as television, phone, ipad, and so on) an hour or two before going to bed
- Read in bed until you are tired enough to sleep
- Limit what you eat several hours before going to bed
- Don’t drink so much water you need to use the toilet during the night
- Limit caffeine in the afternoon
- Stop drinking alcohol (yeah, I know…!)
- Meditate, take a warm bath, do something to relax before going to bed
- If necessary, use blackout blinds, ear plugs, or other sleep enhancing tools
- When travelling, consider taking your pillow
How napping can help cyclists
Taking a nap after training might be the best way to improve recovery via your sleep. Many professional athletes, from different sports, are turning to a well planned napping routine to improve their athletic performance.
The main factors are that napping isn’t a replacement for your nightly sleep quota. If you nap for thirty minutes after training, this isn’t license to sleep less overnight. Also note that, while an exact amount might be highly personal, in most cases you will want to nap for less than thirty-minutes. Especially if you’re at work…
