#70 - Sleep, recovery and fatigue in athletes with Professor Shona Halson

Dr Glenn McConell chats with Professor Shona Halson from the Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia. We chatted about how much sleep athletes need compared with how much sleep they actually get. Night sleep vs naps vs total sleep in athletes vs non athletes. The importance of consistency of sleep. Caffeine, sleep and exercise performance. Is overtraining actually a lot less common than believed? Ice baths may reduce hypertrophy with resistance training but improve team sports/endurance. Effects of compression garments on recovery. The effects of mental fatigue on exercise performance. A very interesting chat. Twitter: @ShonaHalson
0:00. Introduction + how Shona got into sports/exercise research
3:45. Defining what we mean by recovery and fatigue
5:40. How much sleep do athletes need/get?
11:30. If athletes extend their sleep they do better
13:05. Athletes night sleep vs total sleep per day (naps)
15:10. Physical load vs mental load and sleep
16:45. Sleep quality/architecture
20:15. Is one night of reduced sleep a problem?
21:15. Lack of sleep and perception of effort
22:20. Importance of sleep consistency/regularity
28:55. Does a lack of sleep reduce performance
29:56. Best to prioritize sleep or exercise?
34:27. Caffeine and sleep studies (hard to control)
39:15. Caffeine: responders and non responders etc
41:30. Genetics and sleep/can one sleep too much?
43:12. Intensified training vs overreaching vs overtraining
52:52. Ice baths/contrast baths, adaptations and recovery
1:03:00. Water, hydrostatic pressure and blood flow
1:05:25. Inflammation, anti-inflammatories and ice
1:07:30. Physical fatigue vs mental fatigue
1:11:00. Mental fatigue and exercise performance
1:13:40. Are wearables useful for gauging recovery?
1:16:24. Listening to your body
1:17:50. Compression garments and recovery
1:21:05. Menstrual cycling and sleep
1:22:30. Takeaway messages
1:23:30. Placebo effects
1:24:49. Outro (9 seconds)
Inside Exercise brings to you the who's who of research in exercise metabolism, exercise physiology and exercise’s effects on health. With scientific rigor, these researchers discuss popular exercise topics while providing practical strategies for all.
The interviewer, Emeritus Professor Glenn McConell, has an international research profile following 30 years of Exercise Metabolism research experience while at The University of Melbourne, Ball State University, Monash University, the University of Copenhagen and Victoria University.
He has published over 120 peer reviewed journal articles and recently edited an Exercise Metabolism eBook written by world experts on 17 different topics (link.springer.com/book/10.100....
Connect with Inside Exercise and Glenn McConell at:
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Not medical advice

[@siyz250]

Really good topic Glen.
Im a shift worker and am always looking for help with techniques for sleep (duration, qualtity, timing, napping, caffine ++).
I have recently had a poor result in my latest mountain bike race and am hunting for reasoning and a new training approach. Your podcast have help educate me greatly. Thank you.
Simon. Christchurch. NZ.

[@joey9562]

Very informative. Great guest👍🏼💪🏼😊

[@emilianocoff1652]

great podcast!

[@jeremyleake6868]

I was a bit puzzled by the discussion on over training versus over reaching where your guest seemed to imply that its just a continuum. That can’t be right as far as performance is concerned. There’s a world of difference between over reaching and fully recovering after a week’s low efforts to build for the next phase of training versus being so beaten up it takes 6 months to recover. The latter is surely going to result in massive detraining. The optimal must be some overreach where the recovery period is just long enough to allow the athlete to come back stronger. Coaches seem to think that is around a week’s worth of recovery every 3-5 weeks depending on the athlete and type of training. TdF riders may improve temporarily after the tour (after sufficient recovery) - to the point that I think at least a couple of tour riders timed their go at the world hour record around a month after the tour, but then they all usually rest . They obviously think its not optimal to carry on training to the tour intensity after that.

[@hikerJohn]

Should we train if we have a cold?

[@felipearbustopotd]

Thank you for discussing sleep, 🥱 .
Another great contributor would be Matthew Walker.
Great subject, something that is certainly under, ( the duvet ) rated.
❤

[@insideexercise]

Thanks. Yes it is a great subject. I’m aware of Matthew Walker and have heard him on other podcasts. Although it would be great to chat with him, if it suited him, at the moment I’m only interviewing exercise research experts so although he is an expert in sleep he doesn’t fit the bill.

[@felipearbustopotd]

@@insideexercise Cheers for replying.