Sleep for Athletes: Learn How To Sleep Like A Pro!

Sleep for Athletes

Are you getting enough good quality sleep? For most of us, that answer is sadly no. So much to do. So many things on our minds. Sore bodies and stressful routines don’t help too much either- would I be right there?!

For busy athletes trying to balance training, races, nutrition, and an athletic career, many of us let our sleep slip when things get busy. However, it is in fact one of the most important performance drivers we have available to us in our arsenal. Sleep for athletes is crucial for recovery, as it helps our muscle tissue recover after workouts. Along with our bodies, it also recovers and restores our minds.

Image source: athletics weekly

Sleep and Diet

What you may not know is that sleep and diet are closely interrelated. Without enough sleep, people tend to overeat and choose unhealthy foods. Sleep deprivation affects the body’s release of ghrelin and leptin, two neurotransmitters that tell our brain when to consume calories. People who are sleep deprived are more drawn towards high-calorie foods. In fact, chronic sleep loss has been linked to having a larger waist circumference.

Recently I joined up with sleep expert James Leinhardt from Levitex along with two 4thDiscipline PRO Ironman Triathletes - Laura Siddall and Sabrina Stadelmann to talk more about this topic.

You can catch the free webinar here.

We cover:
- Why athletes don’t sleep well sometimes
- Why sleep for athletes is crucial for performance
- How to optimise nutrition for sleep
- How training feels after poor sleep
- Mood and emotions with poor sleep
- The negative effect of poor sleep from a nutrition perspective
- How to improve your sleep and positioning with sleep
- How positioning in bed can help with sleep - another piece of the jigsaw

Watch it now HERE

Let us know what you think of our conversation and tips! 

Ready to optimize yourself for sport and life? Book a free discovery call today! 

Written by: Claire Fudge, Clinical Dietitian and High Performance Nutritionist