If you want gains, get some sleep.
That might sound simple, but most active people dramatically underestimate how much their sleep is affecting their training, their recovery, and their injury risk. This is the first deep dive into one of our four pillars of health — and honestly, it might be the one that moves the needle most for the people who read it.
Sleep and muscle growth: During deep sleep — specifically slow-wave sleep — the body releases the vast majority of its daily growth hormone, which is essential for muscle repair and tissue recovery. Disrupting this stage of sleep directly undermines your body’s ability to rebuild from training.
Sleep and injury risk: Athletes who sleep fewer than 8 hours per night have a meaningfully higher risk of injury. One study found that athletes averaging fewer than 8 hours of sleep were 1.7 times more likely to sustain an injury compared to those getting 8 or more hours. (Milewski MD et al., *Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics*, 2014)
Sleep and performance: Research on collegiate basketball players found that extending sleep produced measurable improvements in sprint speed, reaction time, and shooting accuracy — underscoring how much athletic output is tied to recovery quality. (Mah CD et al., *Sleep*, 2011)
Sleep and immune function: People who sleep fewer than 7 hours per night are nearly three times more likely to develop a cold compared to those who sleep 8 or more hours. (Prather AA et al., *Sleep*, 2015)
The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7–9 hours for adults — but for people training regularly, the upper end of that range (or more) is often where recovery actually happens. Research consistently shows that most athletes fall short of even the standard recommendation, averaging closer to 6.5–7 hours per night despite needing more. If you are training hard, prioritizing the high end of that range is one of the simplest performance decisions you can make.
And remember: quality matters as much as quantity. Conditions like sleep apnea can dramatically reduce sleep quality even when total hours look adequate.
Getting better sleep does not require an overhaul. Start with these:
1. Keep a consistent sleep schedule. Going to bed and waking up at the same time each day helps regulate your circadian rhythm and improve sleep quality over time.
2. Build a pre-sleep routine. Light stretching, foam rolling, or meditation after a hard training day signals to your body that it is time to downshift. The transition from high output to quality sleep is something you can train.
3. Optimize your environment. A cool, dark, quiet room is not just a preference — it is a performance variable. Invest in your sleep environment the same way you invest in your training.
4. Limit caffeine and alcohol. Both interfere with sleep quality and recovery. Caffeine has a half-life of around 5–6 hours in most people, meaning an afternoon coffee can still be working against your sleep at midnight. Alcohol, despite making you feel drowsy, significantly disrupts sleep architecture and suppresses REM sleep.
5. Build in recovery days. Intense training without adequate recovery accumulates fatigue. Active recovery — light walking, mobility work, yoga — on off days supports better sleep and reduces systemic stress.
Sleep is not passive. It is when your body does its most important recovery work. If you are training consistently but not seeing the results you expect, sleep is one of the first places to look.
And if you needed one more reason: getting this right costs you nothing but time.
Dr. Brett Poniros, DC, CSCS is the founder of Apollo Performance Chiropractic & Training in Pleasantville, NY.
