For the next two days the topic will be sleep. This is the first and most important thing athletes need to target. Sleep needs will vary somewhat from individual to individual, but a good starting point is usually 8 hours. The cumulative stress, both physical and mental/emotional, an individual faces will be the main determinant here. During sleep a two very important processes occur. First of all we secrete hormones like testosterone and HGH (human growth hormone) which are corner stones of the adaptive response to exercise. These function to build back up what we have just broken down with our training, and it has been found that sleep and testosterone are closely linked. Not only is the physical stress repaired in the deep stages of sleep but memory and motor learning are consolidated. The muscle memory associated with the highly skilled and technical movements like putting in golf, or jerking in Olympic lifting are actually reinforced when sleeping not during the endless hours of practice on the course or lifting platform. For both the physical and the mental regeneration needed to excel optimal sleep is a key component. So if your looking to shave that .01s off your PB it starts by targeting your sleep and optimising your sleep so you get the most out of it. Tomorrow, the link between sleep and testosterone along with some tips for better sleep will be discussed.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 21:09:28 +0000
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