SLEEP DEPRIVATION REDUCES MUSCLE GAINS! NEW RESEARCH

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SLEEP DEPRIVATION REDUCES MUSCLE GAINS! NEW RESEARCH

• SLEEP DEPRIVATION RESULTED IN A 19% LOWER INCREASE IN MUSCLE PROTEIN SYNTHESIS COMPARED TO NORMAL SLEEP.
• SLEEP LOSS RESULTS IN A REDUCTION IN MUSCLE PROTEIN SYNTHESIS
• SLEEP LOSS COMBINED WITH HIIT INCREASES PROTEIN SYNTHESIS TO THE SAME AS NORMAL SLEEP WITHOUT EXERCISE

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SLEEP AND MUSCLE GROWTH

When you think of key factors for muscle growth, it’s often the amount of protein consumed, the volume of exercise, the intensity of effort, etc. Sleep plays a key role in many physiological and cognitive functions, and it is recommended that adults get between 7 and 9 h of sleep each night.(1)

Previous studies have found that those who slept less had less muscle mass.(2) If a person is dieting, a larger loss of lean muscle mass has been reported in subjects who slept 5.5 hours a night compared to those sleeping 8.5 hours a night.(3) One theory why not getting enough sleep can cause loss of lean muscle is a previous study that found that 72 hours of sleep deprivation caused an increase in cortisol and protein breakdown (4).

STUDY EXAMINES MUSCLE GROWTH SLEEP DEPRIVATION CONNECTION

Researchers wanted to investigate if sleep loss combined with high-intensity interval training would affect muscle protein synthesis. HIIT has been found to stimulate muscle protein synthesis when subjects are well-rested, but the responses of HIIT and sleep loss have yet to be investigated.

Researchers examined muscle protein synthesis in response to adequate sleep, sleep loss, and sleep loss combined with HIIT. The sleep loss group was allowed 4 hours of sleep a night for 5 nights. The HIIT protocol had subjects cycle at 90% of each participant’s peak oxygen capacity combined with 10 intervals for 60-seconds with 75 seconds rest between exercise intervals.

At the end of the study, 5 nights of sleep restriction resulted in dramatically lower muscle protein synthesis rates. Interestingly, the sleep loss combined with HIIT resulted in no further increases in protein synthesis compared to the group without exercise, who slept normally for 8 hours. HIIT results in an increase in muscle protein synthesis compared to those not exercising but with sleep restriction, and HIIT results in the same increase in muscle protein synthesis as those not exercising.

SLEEP DEPRIVATION REDUCES MUSCLE PROTEIN SYNTHESIS

This suggests that not getting enough sleep will have a major reduction in muscle protein synthesis compared to sleeping for 8 hours and training hard. The increases in muscle protein synthesis were normal sleep, and no exercise = similar increases in muscle protein synthesis as HIIT plus sleep restriction. Sleep restriction resulted in a 19% lower increase in muscle protein synthesis compared to normal sleep and HIIT plus sleep restriction. (5)

 

REFERENCES

1.         Spiegel K, Leproult R, Van Cauter E. Impact of sleep debt on metabolic and endocrine function. Lancet. 1999;354(9188):1435-9.

2.         Buchmann N, Spira D, Norman K, Demuth I, Eckardt R, Steinhagen-Thiessen E. Sleep, Muscle Mass and Muscle Function in Older People. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2016;113(15):253-60.

3.         Nedeltcheva AV, Kilkus JM, Imperial J, Schoeller DA, Penev PD. Insufficient sleep undermines dietary efforts to reduce adiposity. Ann Intern Med. 2010;153(7):435-41.

4.         Kant GJ, Genser SG, Thorne DR, Pfalser JL, Mougey EH. Effects of 72-hour sleep deprivation on urinary cortisol and indices of metabolism. Sleep. 1984;7(2):142-6.

5.         Saner NJ, Lee MJ, Pitchford NW, Kuang J, Roach GD, Garnham A, et al. The effect of sleep restriction, with or without high-intensity interval exercise, on myofibrillar protein synthesis in healthy young men. J Physiol. 2020;598(8):1523-36.

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