The internet is filled with every possible diet plan, training program, and supplement regimen, all promising to make you bigger, faster, and stronger. Athletes looking for the competitive edge are always willing to spend money on the best coaches, therapists, and food plans, but until recently, many have neglected one of the most critical factors in recovery and success in weightlifting.

This X-Factor is not only free, but actually an integral part of every human’s daily life, and we spend about a third of our lives doing it; it’s known commonly as sleep! While we don’t know that a single reason for sleep exists, we do know that it’s a universal need for all forms of higher life and without proper sleep, negative health consequences will occur. In a famous study on rats, for example, total sleep deprivation  had a 100 percent fatality rate in less than 5 weeks! In humans, sleep deprivation greater than 48 hours is considered by the CIA to be “enhanced interrogation,” a nice way of saying: “torture.”

But apart from the extremes of killing rats and torturing terrorists, does sleep deprivation affect more important things such as weightlifting performance? This article will examine the mechanism of sleep, the physiology of sleep, some common sleep disruptors, and ways to optimize sleep to get the most out of your training.

Phases of Sleep

Scientists have identified two types of sleep that you will cycle in and out of several times throughout the night: REM (rapid eye movement) and non-REM sleep. Non-REM sleep can be further divided into 3 separate stages, stage 1, 2, and 3.

Stage 1 is basically a changeover from being awake to light sleep; heart rate will slow, body temperature begins to drop, eye movement slows, and muscles relax and may twitch. Stage 2 is a period of lighter sleep as you approach deep sleep. Brain wave activity slows and everything that slowed during stage 1 continues to slow. Stage 2 sleep is the most repeated sleep cycle. Stage 3 is the period of deeper sleep you need to feel refreshed in the morning. Everything slows to the lowest levels and it can be difficult to awaken someone during this stage.

Research shows that 70% of growth hormone release occurs in Stage 3 and REM sleep. REM sleep occurs about 90 minutes after falling asleep and cycling through the first three stages. It gets its name from the eyes moving rapidly back and forth behind closed eyelids. Breathing and heart rate speed up close to the level of wakefulness and this is when most dreams take place. Also, during REM sleep, your arms and legs can become temporarily paralyzed, preventing you from acting out your dreams. 

2-Process Model for Sleep Regulation

So, we know now that the body has four main stages of sleep which cycle multiple times throughout the night, but what actually regulates these stages? Most researchers agree on the two process model of sleep regulation proposed three decades ago by Alexander Borebly. Borebly stated that sleep regulation is determined by two independent biological mechanisms, Process S (sleep/wake homeostasis) the body’s tendency to maintain a stable and relatively constant condition, and process C (circadian rhythm) our internal body clock, synchronized with the Earth’s 24 hour rotation cycle. To illustrate how these two processes intermingle and to keep things simple, when we wake up, a pressure builds to make us tired. However, at the same time, we have a drive to keep us awake. This sleep pressure builds throughout the day until we fall asleep, when it drops off. Wake drive (Process C) is your 24 hour light/dark circadian rhythm which overcomes sleep pressure as you approach morning. This sleep-wake homeostasis essentially keeps track of your need for sleep. Although many factors can influence your sleep needs such as medications, alcohol, stress, medical conditions, and diet, perhaps the greatest influence is light. When light hits your retina, specialized cells tell the brain whether its daytime or nighttime which can disrupt your natural 24 hour circadian rhythm.

Blue Light

Light plays a crucial role in our sleep/wake cycle by its effects on the pineal gland. The pineal gland, also known as the "third eye," is responsible for secreting the hormone melatonin, which helps set your circadian rhythm. So, given that light exposure is a key factor in setting our circadian rhythm, it’s time to examine the role blue light plays in sleep disruption.

Blue light, despite the misleading name, isn’t actually blue to the naked eye; it’s simply a shorter wavelength of light that has potent melatonin suppressing activity. Blue light is commonly found in backlit screens such as TVs, smartphones, tablets, computer screens, etc.

Our current world seems to revolve around computers, smartphones, and tablet usage, with millions of people spending significant time on their devices at all hours of the day and night.

One of the effects of all this use of screens and technology is that we’re exposing ourselves to large amounts of melatonin-suppressing blue light. In addition to blue light, even normal light exposure can have a profound effect on nighttime melatonin release, altering the normal circadian rhythm resulting in sleep disruption.

Hormones, Weightlifting, and Sleep

Intense training while sleep deprived is a recipe for disaster. Apart from the cognitive housekeeping which occurs during sleep, the lion’s share of our physical recovery from training is accomplished during sleep. In fact, the two most significant stimulators of growth hormone,  

are exercise and sleep.  So when you get short sleep, your training can suffer multiple ways; it reduces your ability to fully recover, and it lessens your growth hormone release. In addition to hampering the ability to properly recover from training, chronic sleep disruption impacts reaction time as much as alcohol. In a test of reaction times, subjects who were tired from being sleep deprived performed almost as poorly as subjects who were legally

drunk. Olympic weightlifting is a high intensity endeavor and apart from requisite strength, also requires high level nervous system recruitment especially in the more technically challenging snatch. Sleep deprivation robs you of that high level nervous system activation needed for performance and trying to push through it is only going to make things worse or even get you injured.

Ways to Optimize Sleep

Explaining the physiology of sleep takes some work, so now what to do with all that information in a practical sense? Sleep in a cool, dark room. Experts say that the optimal sleep temperature for most of us is between 60-67 degrees. Our core temperature drops at night and keeping a cooler room helps ensure the body isn’t fighting the warm air to cool itself down.

Keep the room devoid of all light, especially screens! You can do this a couple ways, first, and easiest is to invest in a sleep mask. Sleep masks keep things dark when you can’t avoid ambient light. Black out blinds are great for keeping the room dark at nearly any time of day. Turn off any TV’s or computers that may be running in the room. Keep your phone charging in a different room so you’re not tempted to pick it up and start checking emails or playing games. Sound is also a factor in quality sleep. Some people find that a white noise machine helps them relax, while other people prefer no sound. I actually prefer total silence and wear ear plugs as a way of drowning out any ambient noise. Finally, try to wake upon at a consistent time of morning and expose yourself to bright light, to help anchor your circadian rhythm.

Conclusion

Often times in life, it’s tempting to seize on the latest new trend or product to enhance our lives, and weightlifting is no different. Whether it be a flashy new supplement or cool new gadget to get us better results from training, we are tempted by the bright flashy novelty items. Getting good sleep or improving sleep hygiene can seem boring when compared to new ideas, but in fact, if I had to choose one area to maximize to improve weightlifting performance, I’m taking sleep over food or training.