Abstract
Purpose
Sleep deprivation (SD) seems to impair endurance performance. However, little research is available on the effects of SD in the context of repeated bouts of endurance exercise. The effect of recovery sleep on endurance performance is also poorly understood.
Methods
Twenty-six male amateur cyclists/triathletes (mean ± SD: age 30.5 ± 8.8 yr, \(\dot{\text{V}}{\mathrm{O}}\)2peak 55.3 ± 4.9 mL/kg/min) were randomly allocated to SD and CONTROL groups and tested over 3 consecutive days. After baseline testing (day 1), the SD group did not sleep for 25 h (day 2) and slept normally the following night (day 3). The CONTROL group slept normally throughout the experiment. Endurance performance was assessed during 40-min moderate-intensity constant-workload cycling and 20-min time trial. Electroencephalography, questionnaires, and psychomotor vigilance task were used to assess sleepiness and vigilance before cycling. Ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), Feeling scale (FS), heart rate (HR), and blood lactate were assessed during cycling.
Results
Sleepiness and vigilance were impaired after SD (p
Description
This study investigates the impact of sleep deprivation and recovery sleep on cycling performance.