It is common knowledge that playing sports promotes sleepiness and quality of sleep. But did you know that the reverse is also proven? Indeed, many studies show that good sleep has a positive impact on athletic performance.
And that sounds pretty logical. When you are well rested, the body is full of vitality and energy, and athletic performance can only be better!
Sleeping well allows the body to recover well and to support its muscles and tissues as they regenerate.
The risks of poor sleep for athletes
Conversely, if the sleep is not of good quality, fatigue will be felt during the day and during sports activity. This fatigue will have an impact on the level of vigilance. Movements, placements, and other exercises will be performed less well, leading to a risk of injury.
Deep sleep, the most important phase
When we sleep, we have several phases of sleep.
First, there is falling asleep. This is the first phase, when we get into bed and sink into Morpheus’s arms. The muscles relax, the body relaxes, and breathing becomes slower.
Then, we alternate throughout the night between phases of slow light sleep and phases of deep sleep.
Light slow sleep accounts for about 50% of our total sleep time. This is when we are most likely to wake up, because of a noise or a light for example.
Slow, deep sleep represents between 20 and 25% of our night . Most often, this phase takes place in the first part of our sleep cycle. Here, brain activity is reduced to a minimum. It is very rare to wake up during this phase. And it is during this phase that the body recovers the best, because our whole body is at complete rest.
The 5 golden rules for sleeping like a baby and recovering well
1. Have a regular sleep pattern
Get into the habit of going to bed and getting up at regular times as much as possible throughout the week. The internal clock is very well made, and it must be preserved as much as possible for it to be beneficial.
The ideal, according to statistics, is to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night. But it also depends a lot on each person. Some need more sleep than others, who will be totally rested after having slept 6 hours!
2. Exercising in the evening OK, but a session or a sport that is not too intense
Indeed, if sport is beneficial for sleep, it can quickly have the opposite effect if the activity is practiced too close to bedtime, or if the session is too intense! The body over-stimulated can heat up, and this will have the opposite effect on sleep. It is therefore important to find the right balance…
3. É avoid a hot shower before going to bed
As mentioned above, to sleep well, the body needs to lose a few degrees of temperature. But sporting activity increases body temperature. So if on top of that we add a hot shower, the body temperature will be too high when you go to bed, and falling asleep will be more complicated. So nothing like a cool shower before going to bed.
4. Eat well in the evening to sleep well
Fast or slow sugars make it easier to fall asleep. And that’s good, because after a good workout, it’s not uncommon to want a pasta dish! Sport / pasta / sleep, so it’s the perfect combo!
On the other hand, we avoid proteins in the evening if possible, which have a stimulating effect and which are slower to digest. For all that is meat, fish, egg or cheese – all the same essential for nourishing muscle mass – we integrate them during morning or midday meals.
The simple point is that sport and sleep go hand in hand. A good balance of the two is essential, as one favors the other.
5. Take a cure with a suitable food supplement
To help you find a restful and deeper sleep, Pur Vitaé has developed COCOON Bio . Composed of 3 plants with antioxidant properties (Rhodiola, Chlorella and Baobab), this 100% natural and organic food supplement will begin its phase of action by relaxing your muscles, then will act on the nervous system and finally will balance the pH of your body in order to improve the quality of sleep.
