Can affect strength training to sleep ?

Strength training keeps you fit and is good for your health, but if you train a lot, you also need to sleep well to regenerate! Sports and health expert Prof. Dr. Geisler shows us current studies on the effect of strength training on sleep and explains whether regular training contributes to better sleep.

Table of contents

1. Sport & Sleep
2. The Effect of Strength Training on Sleep Quality
3. Can strength training improve sleep?
4. Conclusion

1. Sport & Sleep

If you train a lot and hard, you also need to get enough sleep and regenerate! Good sleep is particularly important in strength training to support muscle growth and replenish energy reserves after strenuous training sessions. You can find out more about this in this articleSo good sleep supports our training performance, but how does regular strength training affect our sleeping habits and sleep quality?

Prof. Dr. Stephan Geisler is the smartsleep-Expert for fitness and health. He gives us an overview of the current research and explains what influence strength training can have on sleep quality.

2. Effects of strength training on sleep quality

To answer the question of whether strength training has an impact on sleep, we need to familiarize ourselves with the current state of research. To this end, we can take a look at three studies that offer different perspectives (Bennie & Tittlbach, 2020; Kovacevic et al., 2018; Santiago et al., 2022).

The first study examined the effects of 12 weeks of strength training on sleep quality, sleep duration, and daytime sleepiness in healthy adolescents (Santiago et al., 2022). The training was performed three times a week in a repetition range of 10-12 repetitions, completed in three sets per exercise. The strength training was based on eight exercises to train the entire body in each training session (leg extension, leg curl, calf raises, leg press, bench press, bicep curls, tricep extension, and lat pulldown). The results show that the subjects' general sleep quality had improved greatly after 12 weeks and that daytime sleepiness also tended to be lower. A control group that did not train, on the other hand, was unable to improve their sleep quality or daytime sleepiness. However, the fact that strength training has a positive effect on sleep was not only evident in this study.

The work of Bennie & Tittlbach analyzed the data from online questionnaires or paper questionnaires from the 2014 project "Health in Germany Today". The researchers had access to data from 23,635 people over the age of 18. The researchers thus examined data from over 23,000 people over the age of 18 and examined whether those who did some form of strength training had better sleep quality. And indeed, the analysis showed that people who did strength training tended to have better sleep quality - regardless of sociodemographic/lifestyle factors (e.g. gender, age, socioeconomic position, alcohol, smoking, BMI and chronic diseases) and endurance training.

The last work I would like to present examined all studies published up to that point in 2018 that dealt with the effect of acute strength training (i.e. less than four training sessions) and chronic strength training (i.e.more than four training sessions) on sleep duration and sleep quality in people of all ages, genders and health conditions (from healthy to sick). However, the study could not find a direct positive or negative influence of strength training on sleep duration, and the results on the development of sleep quality were also somewhat inconsistent. In two out of three studies, an improvement in sleep quality was observed after acute strength training. In people who did chronic strength training, an improvement in subjective sleep quality was observed across several studies, while sleep duration was only affected to a limited extent. However, there are only a few well-controlled studies that have examined the effects of strength training on sleep duration and sleep quality.

3. Can strength training improve sleep?

Yes, strength training can have a positive impact on sleep quality! This is shown by the three studies presented, which, due to their different approaches, show different perspectives on the current state of research. The positive effects on sleep could be caused primarily by the effect of training on energy metabolism. There have already been a number of studies on this by Dr. Markus Dworak, which showed that intensive physical exertion increases the proportion of deep sleep and that this effect is probably caused by the molecule adenosine.

And sleep duration could also be improved through regular training sessions, although the current research on this is still very limited. In addition, there is a lack of studies that have examined the influence of strength training on sleep quality in young and healthy adults. So it remains exciting to see what knowledge we will gain in the future about the connection between strength training and our sleep.

More articles in the field of sports and health: How exercise promotes sleep and Sleep improves athletic performance.

4. Conclusion

• Regular strength training can have a positive effect on sleep quality and improve the subjective feeling of recovery.

• In some studies, regular strength training has helped increase sleep duration.

Best regards and see you soon!