Sleeping little and bad is one of the bad customs that the majority of citizens of the 21st century shared. Endless work days, family obligations or, simply, too long watching television before bedtime, they get us to spend a good part of the day in need of more to meet us better.
What happens when, in addition to covering our basic sleep needs, we are cyclists and we need to meet in full conditions to get on the bicycle? The answer is that
Our need for a dream of quality and adjusted in duration is even greater.
If the scientific community agrees in something, it is not to sleep enough has a direct relationship with physical performance and our brain. Sleep deprivation causes tiredness, clumsiness, lack of memory, increased blood pressure, irritability and stress, in addition to originating an immune deficit and weight changes.
Sports scientist Scott Murray even talks about
Over -finding syndrome. Is something about all this compatible with cycling?
Rest? Better new habits
We have bad news for those who trust the popular belief that lack of sleep from Monday to Friday is simply heals, sleeping more the weekend.
In this way our brain and our body benefit from something more rest, but although we sleep a couple more hours on Saturday and another 2 hours more on Sunday, they do not have time to assimilate that routine change.
Moreover, there can be a rebound effect that converts the new early morning of Monday into an entire drama.
The solution for lack of sleep, in quantity and quality, is in the medium term and consists of a change of habits:
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Check your mattress and your pillow. Neither of them are eternal. Check your age and plant yourself if you need to replace them. Look for specialized advice based on your weight and customs at bedtime.
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Darkness. Make sure the room, in addition to silent, is dark and will continue to be even though it dawns. Dress with comfortable garments, that they do not press you, and keep in mind to see the TV in the room is not a good idea, nor is it to attend the mobile phone in the dark. A temperature that is fresh will help you to reconcile sleep better.
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Two hours of margin from training. Unless it is a moderate training, it leaves at least 2 hours of temporary distance between the end of the last training of the day and the moment of bed.
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Dinner in moderation and forget alcohol. Copious and fat dinners are the worst enemy of a reparative dream, as well as those spicy or of very strong flavors. Alcohol, even in small doses, should be out of your routines as a athlete, but even more in the hours before going to sleep.
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Take advantage of the naps. The benefits of a nod of no less than 10 minutes or more than 30 are used by many elite athletes. If you check that you feel good, reserve every day for a repairing nap.
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Leave guilt behind. Sleeping a little more is not synonymous with making the vague. When you are training next to your exits, or in full competition, no one will remember whether they woke up before or later. The only thing that will import will be the one who pedals the best, and in that those who go up to the most rested pedals have advantage.
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The 8 hours are only orientative. You are the one who knows how many hours should sleep every night to meet. There are cases of cyclists who need 10 hours and others who are sufficient. Remember that each person is different and has different sleep needs.
Direct benefits on the two wheels
If you put all these tips into practice you will be paying the ground to obtain a better bicycle performance. It is not just that regular and good quality sleep increases physical and mental recovery.
Scientists say that the skills and techniques learned during training, that is, cognitive performance, also grow when the fifth phase of sleep is reached, known as Rapid Eye Movement (REM).
Stanford University is one of the pioneers to analyze the relationship between sleep and sports performance, and its conclusions cannot be more positive. In a complete study on 2 swimming equipment whose members slept 10 hours for a period of 6 to 7 weeks, detected improvements such as swimming 15 meters in 0.51 seconds less, or turning 0.10 seconds less time.
In any case, if you do not appreciate improvement in the quality of your dream or suffer a prolonged alteration over time, consult a specialist in the field who will know how to make an adequate diagnosis and guide yourself so you can solve it.
