I post a lot about sleep. Sleep is one of the easiest things you can do to improve your strength. Sleeping 7-8 hours a night improve your brain function, immune system, increase your life span.
The Study: Relationship between sleep and muscle strength among Chinese university students: a cross-sectional study
The Facts:
a. “Poor sleep quality and short sleep duration are associated with an increased risk for muscle mass reduction.”
b. The authors noted that a previous study had suggested that short sleep duration was associated with increased inflammation in adolescents.
c. They also indicate that sleep disruption was associated with impaired secretion of insulin-like growth factor-1.
d. Additionally they note that increased inflammation is a risk for lower muscle strength and that insulin-like growth factor-1 modulates both muscle mass and muscle function.
e. They also note previous studies showing a relationship between muscle mass and sleep.
f. This study examined both sleep quality and duration and their relationship to muscle strength.
g. The subjects were 10,125 female and male university students.
h. Strength was assessed using a hand grip dynamometer.
i. Sleep quality and length were assessed with self-reporting.
j. “…a positive association between sleep quality and muscle strength was observed in both male and female students.”
k. Male subjects who were sleeping 6 hours were measurably weaker than those who slept 7 to 8 hours.
l. No significant difference was noted between those men who slept 7 to 8 hours and those who slept more than 8 hours.
M. In women, although there was an association between sleep quality and strength there was not a significant association between sleep duration and strength.
Take Home:
Sleep quality and duration are both factors that can affect muscular function however, the exact ways in which sleep disruptions may impact strength seem to differ between men and women.
Link to Full Text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5749041/