Sleep is one of the four pieces of the ‘performance jigsaw’ for us at DD Triathlon Coaching. Sleep is the most powerful and effective recovery tool for athletes of all levels, and your ability to perform and improve in your sport is as dependent on your sleep as it is on any training and hard work you put into your sport. It is when your body repairs and regenerates damaged tissue and muscles from the day’s training.

How much sleep do you need? Evidence shows that more sleep, or extended sleep, can benefit athletes, their recovery, and their performance. Recommendations for athletes' range between 7 and 9 hours. Elite athletes are encouraged to get at least 9 hours of sleep.

Along with sleep duration, sleep quality is also important. Signs of poor sleep are not just limited to feeling tired. Signs include:

• Reduced alertness and concentration, impaired judgement, forgetfulness
• Low mood, heightened stress, inability to regulate emotions
• Frequent illness and injuries
• Not recovering from training, low energy and endurance capacity, reduced desire to train
• Struggling with body composition.

If you’d like to find out more about our coaching, check out our coaching packages or drop us a message.