So many variables affect how we perform as triathletes. The right balance of work/rest, hydration, nutrition, strength training, stretching, and sleep all contribute to our performance.
In this blog, we'd like to talk about the importance of sleep as part of recovery in an athlete's training plan.
Few people appreciate the physiological benefits that take place during rest, especially sleep. While sleeping, the body releases growth hormones to repair the damage from the day’s training stress and to strengthen our bodies weakened by training.
In this article from Training Peaks: The Whole Picture: Recovery Through Sleep a good sleep is needed...
* to maintain the performance of thinking and problem-solving,
* for carbohydrate metabolism and the appetite associated with particular blood sugar levels,
* for the performance of the immune system in identifying and neutralizing invading pathogens,
* to reset\ the calibration of our internal perceived exertion (RPE) scale, to maintain good sensations of fatigue and mood
With such clear benefits, you would expect that athletes would take sleep as seriously as training, but according to surveys performed by Dr. Shona Halson at the Australian Institute of Sport, this is seldom the case, even amongst elite athletes.
So, what can we do as athletes to ensure that we are managing our sleep so that it helps us recover rather than causing additional stress on our bodies?
We need to start treating our sleep like we do our training.
With every training session, we have a warm-up, the main set, and a cooldown. Let's consider how that could look if we were tracking our sleep:
3. Cooldown - Post-wake evaluation
As Triathletes, we know that data collection is key in figuring out what is working and what is not working. You can't change what you don't acknowledge, so if you know that your sleep is less than perfect, then read the full Training Peaks article [here] and get to work making the changes necessary.
Julia Aimers
CSEP Clinical Exercise Physiologist
CSEP High-Performance Specialist
Certified Triathlon, Cycling, Yoga and Swimming Coach
USA Cycling Level 2 Coach
Training Peaks Accredited Coach
I love the accountability and the structure of the Virtual 70.3 Half Ironman training program. I don't think I would have gotten this far without the program. The accountability is huge for me!
Deborah Jackman
My coach Kevin Willis is amazing. His swim practices have been a real game-changer for me. A great communicator regardless of your swim level. The whole club is supportive of everything you do. You don't need to be an Ironman to benefit from their programs. 5 stars all around!!! - Denise Pittuck
I just wanted to thank you and your team (Gabi! Brenda! Maggie! Dawn!) for making last weekend's event so amazing. I had tried to do a try-a-tri on my own last summer, and the experience was night and day.
Even though I didn't make every virtual session, I felt so prepared... I knew where to go for information, and I knew I had a team of people (coaches and our beginner tri group!) who were all there to support me.
It was interesting to watch Eric train on his own (without access to the TrainingPeaks workouts and without the weekly meetings to ask questions and learn more about proper form and race-day stuff). When we left on Sunday, he looked at me and was like "we're DEFINITELY doing the training with Julia if we decide to go for the olympic distance, right?".
So glad to have found this club and looking forward to many more triathlons in the near future!!! Tai Teleso
