The Effect of Poor Sleep on Your Training
Sleep allows our bodies to recover and our minds to reset.
In sport, poor sleep may lead to increased RPE, impaired coordination and may reduce your ability to utilise energy stores.
It is common for sleep to be disrupted in the late luteal phase in the lead up to our period. During this time, the levels of estrogen and progesterone are falling, and this can have a negative impact on our sleep.
The mechanism isn’t fully understood but the role that our hormones play in body temperature and melatonin production is thought to be related.
What can we do to adapt our training around sleep?
Be flexible
Don’t be afraid to change your plan or rearrange your schedule so that you aren’t trying to complete high intensity sessions on poor sleep!
Sync your deload week
If you experience poor sleep at a certain point in your cycle, try syncing your deload week with this phase.
A deload week is a lighter week of training. It doesn’t have to be complete rest; we recommend dropping training load (volume x intensity x frequency) by 50% or more. A deload week allows your body to recover more thoroughly.
Choose training that require less coordination
You may want to focus on simple conditioning exercises or easier climbing. You might find this less frustrating if sleep has been disrupted.
What can we do to help our sleep?
Get enough magnesium
Magnesium has been shown to help with sleep (as well as other symptoms experienced in PMS) and can be found in leafy greens or taken as a supplement.
Consider the effects of caffeine
Cut back on caffeine and try not to have it in the afternoon. The half life of caffeine is around 8 hours so a coffee after lunch could still hinder sleep!
Drink water
Drink plenty of water throughout the day, but not close to bed. This way you are hydrated but not needing to get up in the night!
Stay cool
Try and keep your room cool to prevent overheating in the night.
Follow Lattice Training on Instagram.
Read more tips for menstrual cycle.
What are your top tips for sleep? Do you make any changes around your cycle? Let us know in the comments 👇
