Abstract
Objectives
Athletes and military personnel may experience sleep disturbances due to conditions
of training and competitions or military missions/field operations. The risk of muscle
injuries is greater for them when sleep duration decreases, and training load increases
simultaneously, which can be exacerbated by fatigue. Accumulating evidence demonstrates
that sleep extension improved performance, pain sensitivity and GH/IGF-I anabolic
responses, which may be beneficial in accelerating recovery from muscle injuries.
Design & Methods
This narrative review describes the importance of sleep for the recovery/prevention
of exercise-induced muscle injuries and provides perspectives on the transferability
of currently available scientific evidence to the field.
Results
The first part presents the role of sleep and its interaction with the circadian system
for the regulation of hormonal and immune responses, and provides information on sleep
in athletes and soldiers and its relationship to injury risk. The second part is an
overview of muscle injuries in sport and presents the different phases of muscle regeneration
and repair, i.e. degeneration, inflammation, regeneration, remodeling and maturation.
Part three provides information on the deleterious effects of sleep deprivation on
muscle tissue and biological responses, and on the benefits of sleep interventions.
Sleep extension could potentially help and/or prevent recovery from exercise-induced
muscle-injuries through increasing local IGF-I and controlling local inflammation.
Conclusions
Although the science of sleep applied to sport is still an emerging field, the current
scientific literature shows many potential physiological pathways between sleep and
exercise-related muscle injuries. More direct studies are needed to establish clear
guidelines for medical personnel and coaches.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 18, 2021
Accepted:
May 11,
2021
Received in revised form:
March 20,
2021
Received:
July 3,
2020
Identification
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© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Sports Medicine Australia.
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