By Steffani Ford – Eat Smart Nutrition Accredited Dietitian & Sports Dietitian

Why do we need sleep?

Sleep is a critical part of an athlete’s recovery because it has:

• Physiological and psychological benefits, such as assisting with muscle growth and repair.
• Positive effects on the brain, such as consolidating memories like new skills learnt during training.

Scientists do not have a definitive answer as to why we need sleep, but we do know that sporting performance is negatively affected by a lack of it. From recent research, we also know that a lack of sleep may have negative effects on your immune and endocrine systems, which could lead to illness and therefore impede training and recovery and performance in competition.

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