Unless you鈥檙e a professional athlete, it鈥檚 not easy to squeeze in the eight hours of sleep recommended by doctors and get in enough training time to keep you fit.
It鈥檚 pretty clear from recent studies that sleep is essential鈥攆or staying clear-headed, keeping up a healthy immune system, and maintaining your edge. But then again, exercise is essential too, with all of its obvious benefits, plus the bonus of better sleep.
So if it comes down to an extra hour of training, or an extra hour to snooze before the alarm goes off, which should you choose?
Definitely sleep, according to Charles H. Samuels, medical director at the . 鈥淭here is no argument here,鈥 he says. 鈥淭he choice between adequate recovery and training is always on the side of recovery.鈥
So far, most studies on sleep and exercise have focused on how limiting or extending slumber affects performance. tracked the sleeping habits of elite swimmers during periods of intense training and found that early-morning start times actually hindered sleep鈥攅ven when athletes went to bed early.
The downside? Athletes with limited sleep tend to report 鈥減oorer mood and higher exertion鈥 during their training, and some studies have found that sleeping less can also mess with the body鈥檚 glucose metabolism and appetite regulation.
In a 2011 study, Cheri Mah, a researcher at the , and colleagues asked Stanford basketball players to stick to their normal sleep schedules and track their play for a few weeks. Then, they upped sleep times to ten hours a night (plus some power naps) and limited alcohol intake. The result: faster sprint times, better reaction time, more accurate shooting, and a better mood.
鈥淥ften, sleep is one of the first things to be sacrificed, but it is important for proper functioning and peak performance,鈥 Mah says. The study even suggests that getting optimal sleep is the only way to hit peak performance.
But that doesn鈥檛 mean putting all your emphasis on sleep and skipping your trail runs. You have to balance the two, changing up the intensity and frequency of your workouts and budgeting enough rest to make sure that you鈥檙e allowing your body enough time to recover. Otherwise, you risk a sloppier, less satisfying performance.
鈥淚f you feel rested and ready for a long workout, then training harder and longer that day could be worthwhile,鈥 says David Geier, an orthopedic surgeon and former director of Sports Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina. 鈥淚f you feel really tired, especially if you have trained aggressively over the last few days, then extra sleep might be a better idea.鈥