Training Science · No. 5 · 3 min read

Sleep is part of your training

Training is the stimulus; adaptation happens when you recover. Sleep is where most of that recovery happens, and most athletes don't get enough.

In a classic Stanford study, Cheri Mah and colleagues asked varsity basketball players to spend at least 10 hours in bed each night for five to seven weeks. They ended up averaging about 8.5 hours of actual sleep, more than usual for most of them.

Sprint times improved: 16.2 s down to 15.5 s over a 282-foot sprint.
Free throws went from 7.9 to 8.8 made out of 10.
Three-pointers went from 10.2 to 11.6 made out of 15.

It was a small study (11 athletes), and basketball isn't HYROX or triathlon. But it fits a wider body of research: short sleep tends to make hard efforts feel harder and recovery slower.

One bad night isn't the problem

A single short night before a race rarely ruins performance. The pattern matters more: a week of six-hour nights in a big training block is a recipe for stalling. Treat sleep as part of the plan, especially in your heaviest weeks.

Try this week

For the next seven nights, set a "lights out" alarm 30 minutes earlier than your usual bedtime. See how your easy runs feel by the end of the week.

If you race HYROX or DEKA

Heavy station work and running stack up fatigue fast. If a hybrid week feels harder than it should, look at your sleep before you blame your fitness.

If you race triathlon

Early-morning swims plus long weekend rides can quietly cut your sleep. Protect your bedtime in your biggest training weeks.

If you're a runner

Easy runs feeling unusually hard at the normal pace can be a sign of accumulated short sleep.

If you train for general fitness

Better sleep improves how you feel, recover and train, and it's free.

How Duravel uses this

Duravel's weekly check-in asks about sleep, fatigue, stress and soreness, so the plan can ease off before a rough week instead of only reacting after one. Connect Oura or another wearable and your recovery data fills in automatically.

Build your plan

Sources

Mah CD, Mah KE, Kezirian EJ, Dement WC (2011). The effects of sleep extension on the athletic performance of collegiate basketball players. Sleep 34(7):943–950.

Educational content, not medical advice.