Overview

Many world-class athletes place great emphasis on the amount of sleep they get. For example, Roger Federer, one of the most famous tennis players, sleeps for about 12 hours each day. Roger splits his routine by sleeping for 10 hours in the night and taking a 2-hour nap.

Another example is Usain Bolt. He holds the world’s record for the fastest 100-meter run. Usain sleeps between 10 and 12 hours per day.

These elite athletes understand the importance of sleep and how it impacts their performance, and so should you.

In this article, we will cover the side effects of not sleeping enough to help you understand the value of sleep and how it influences your health.

What happens when you do not sleep enough?

Sleeping for less than 6 hours could have negative effects on your physical performance.

Based on an investigation, sleep deprivation could reduce the time it takes to exhaustion by as much as 30%. In other words, if you normally run for 30 minutes before feeling tired, not sleeping enough can shorten this duration to 20 minutes or less.

Moreover, sleep deprivation lowers the strength of your muscles and your ability to exchange gases with the surrounding environment (CO2 will take longer to get out of your body). The sweat response can also be affected.

One study discovered a linear correlation between the number of hours spent resting and the risk of physical injuries. If an athlete sleeps less than 6 hours a day, their risk of getting injured is approximately 80% during one season. This risk drops to 15% if they sleep for 9 hours per day.

How can sleep affect the immune system?

The inflammation process is the initial reaction of your immune system when a foreign pathogen enters the body. The goal of this response is to stop the pathogen and eliminate it.

To control this response, the immune system incorporates two types of molecules:

Pro-inflammatory compounds

Anti-inflammatory compounds

Unfortunately, this system is prone to dysfunction, leading to chronic inflammation – a state that is directly linked to most debilitating illnesses.

In a 2013 study, researchers concluded that sleep deprivation overstimulates the signaling pathways of inflammation. As a result, participants had a higher risk of allergic diseases, autoimmune disorders, and cardiometabolic ailments.

Fortunately, sleeping for 7–9 hours is sufficient to improve the functioning of your immune system.

Takeaway message

The amount of sleep you get is crucial to boost your physical performance and lower the risk of diseases. It is also indispensable to improve the performance of your immune system.

We hope that this article managed to emphasize the importance of sleep in improving physical performance and strengthening your immune system.

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