Sleep is essential for functioning at your best. And, it’s particularly important for endurance athletes striving for peak performance.
Good sleep leads you to be mentally cognizant and feel stronger, helping you to run further and faster.
Alternatively, a bad night’s sleep can cause you to feel drained, leading to a less-than-impressive workout the next day.
While poor sleep may be a runner’s worst nightmare, you’ll likely find yourself coming off a bad night of sleep at some point.
And, for those times, there are several training adjustments you can make. We’re about to discuss this in detail including:
- The impacts of poor sleep training
- How to adjust your training following a poor night’s sleep
- Tips to set yourself up for sleeping success
Impacts of Poor Sleep on Your Training
Just one night of bad sleep can harm your mental clarity and endurance performance while making your workout feel harder. Let’s look at the research on why and how in more detail.
Performance
There’s no denying that sleep is essential for runners.
Your overall performance, and specific aspects of your training, are negatively impacted when you have a sleepless night.
If you’re an endurance athlete, this includes negative impacts on your aerobic and anaerobic performance.
This 2023 study found that participants who slept poorly (accumulating about 3 to 4 hours of sleep) had significantly higher heart rates and respiration rates during a run test.
Fatigued participants also had a decrease in their volume of maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) and power output compared to participants who slept well (7 to 9 hours).
The takeaway?
Just one night of poor sleep harms your aerobic and anaerobic energy systems, resulting in a decline in your overall performance.
Additionally, participants of the study who had poor sleep felt an increase in their perceived level of effort, simply meaning the workout felt harder to them.
This shows that there are negative physical and mental effects from a single night of poor sleep.
Cognitive Ability
A poor night of sleep also adversely impacts your cognitive function.
This can impact physical tasks, such as running, and can increase your risk of injury.
For example, this 2023 study found that after a poor night of sleeping, participants’ attention and reaction times were negatively impacted.
Depending on where you run (on a road, near cars, around pedestrians, through intersections and stoplights, etc.) you need a certain level of cognitive function to be aware of your surroundings.
Being tired decreases your cognitive ability when running. This may reduce your ability to pay attention and react, while causing you to feel like your workout is harder.
Ultimately, an impaired cognitive ability increases your risk of injury.
6 Strategies For Adjusting Your Training After a Night of Poor Sleep
So you had a terrible night of sleep, but you still want to complete your training for the day.
What should you do?
Several tips will help you train despite your fatigue, while also mitigating your chance of injury.
1. Run In The Morning:
Following a poor night’s sleep, you will likely have better performance, physically and mentally, when you complete your run in the morning, shortly after waking.
In addition, this 2022 study found that your risk of skipping your training increases as the day goes on.
This means that when you are tired, you are far more likely to complete a run in the morning compared to the afternoon or evening.
The why behind it: Your fatigue will increase as your day goes on. So, waiting until 5:30 p.m. to get it in likely isn’t the best idea.
How to adjust your training routine:
- Run in the morning.
- The closer to your wake time you can perform your run the better.
- Prioritizing your run right away will improve your energy and ensure you don’t end up missing one altogether.
2. Make Your Run Easier:
Rather than performing a fast-paced speed or tempo session when fatigued, doing a slow and steady run may be better.
This allows you to still complete a run without over-exerting yourself on a day when you’re not at 100%.
You can then perform the speed or tempo workout you missed the following day. Utilizing this strategy ensures you can still get all your weekly training in.
What to do:
- After a bad night’s sleep, perform a moderately easy aerobic run, lasting 30 to 60 minutes.
- Select a training duration that aligns with a slower run you had planned for later in the week.
- Perform the tempo, speed, or interval workout you missed the following day.
3. Switch Up Your Routine:
Running requires a certain level of physical and cognitive ability that can be hard to reach when you’re exhausted.
If you feel that your lack of sleep is going to significantly harm any run you attempt, even an easy one, perform a less strenuous form of exercise instead.
Ideas to perform in place of a run:
- Lift weights
- Yoga
- Cycle
- Swim
- Walk
All of these substitutions require less cognition and coordination than running, especially if you typically run on busy streets.
4. Drink Plenty Of Water:
On days when you’re tired (and days when you’re not!), focus on drinking lots of water.
Being dehydrated will only cause you to feel more fatigued.
Alternatively, proper hydration is key to a quality night of sleep and feeling less fatigued throughout the day.
Interestingly, this 2023 study found that hydrated participants had better quality of sleep and stayed asleep longer than those who were dehydrated.
Hydration Tips:
- Drink water all day, making sure to have 17 to 20 ounces about two hours before your run.
- If you want to wake up and immediately run, have at least 5 to 10 ounces before heading out the door.
- Drink 5 to 10 ounces of water every 20 minutes while running.
- Continue to hydrate post-run and throughout the day.
5. Supplement With Caffeine:
There are also benefits to using caffeine strategically to help you power through a run, particularly if you’re going to work out in the morning.
Caffeine, whether you like coffee, an energy drink, or a caffeine pill, has been found to help counter the mental and physical lethargy that comes after a poor night of rest.
But, avoid taking caffeine 5-6 hours before bed, so ideally, you’ll only consume it in the morning. Too much caffeine too close to bed will result in another poor night of sleep.
This 2019 study demonstrates that caffeine has positive effects on physical and mental ability and when taken before a workout leads to increased power produced, greater weight lifted, and faster sprint times.
How to use caffeine:
- To feel the effects of caffeine while running, take 100 to 200 milligrams an hour before running. We also have an article that discusses caffeine dosing in further detail.
- If you are planning to run immediately upon waking, try caffeinated gum. You can take this 10 minutes before exercise and still feel caffeine’s effects.
- Avoid caffeine in the afternoon so it doesn’t impact your sleep quality.
6. Run In The Sun:
If you are a regular listener of the Huberman Lab podcast, then you’re likely well aware that viewing sunlight within the first hours of waking is one of the best ways to get back on track with sleep.
Early morning sun increases early-day cortisol release (the ideal time for elevated cortisol) and prepares the body for sleep later that night.
A morning spike in cortisol will also positively influence your immune system, metabolism and ability to focus during the day.
Later in the day, try to get outside in the afternoon. The particular wavelengths of the sun when it is low in the sky (yellows and oranges, in contrast with blue) come through even if it’s overcast.
Sunlight viewed in the late afternoon/evening communicates to the brain’s circadian clock that it is evening and time to begin the process of transitioning to sleep that night.
Also, on the occasional day you miss getting outside early in the morning, the afternoon sunlight serves as a second “anchor point” for your brain and body to know the time/season, in order to maintain the consistency of your circadian clock.
Additional Tips & Tricks For Running When Tired
Looking for a few more pointers to help you train when tired? Check out our video below, in which we cover tips for falling sleep better and training after a bad night of sleep.
Factors That Impact How You Handle Fatigue
Everyone handles fatigue differently. Factors such as your age, genetics, fitness level, overall health, and lifestyle habits will all impact how you handle being tired.
Let’s take a look at a few things that may impact your ability to run after a bad night’s sleep.
- Age: Compared to older adults, younger athletes may be more resilient to running when tired.
- Fitness Level: Highly trained runners may handle short-term sleep disruptions better than an untrained exerciser, as they’ve got a combination of cardiovascular fitness, conditioning, and discipline working in their favor. This is not to say an experienced runner will be able to run tired and have a great workout, but it may determine whether they can get a run in that day or not.
- Health: If you’re getting over an illness while combatting the effects of fatigue, your energy will be even lower. In addition, as running can temporarily take a toll on your immune system post-run, it’s probably better to skip your run.
- Genetics: Genetic factors can affect a runner’s response to being tired. Some people naturally require more or less sleep than others, and those who need a little less sleep tend to handle exercising tired better.
- Lifestyle Factors: Lifestyle habits, such as diet, stress levels, work schedule, and environmental factors, can also impact how a runner handles fatigue. A tired runner who eats whole, nutritious foods and has low-stress levels is more likely to be able to handle a run when tired. On the other hand, a fatigued runner who had a doughnut for breakfast, is guzzling caffeine, and dehydrated is likely to struggle more.
3 Tips For Getting A Good Sleep The Following Night
We went over how to train when you’re tired, but let’s talk about how to get a good night’s sleep the next day so you’re ready to tackle whatever workout your schedule calls for.
1) Get Up At Your Typical Waking Time:
Following a bad night’s sleep, you may be tempted to try to sleep in, but this strategy can continue to throw off your sleep schedule.
As difficult as it might feel, following a night of poor sleep, you should still get up at your normal wake time.
This 2018 study demonstrated that sleepiness builds up throughout the day, so the longer you are awake, the more sleepy you feel.
If you wake up at your typical waking time, you’ll be more than ready for bed at your normal bedtime, which is key to getting back on track.
2) Exercise (Even If You’re Tired):
Exercise can improve your ability to fall asleep and your quality of sleep.
For instance, this 2018 study demonstrated that physical activity can improve sleep quality, even if it is only a short workout.
Completing a run or a modified workout the day you’re tired will help you fall, and stay, asleep the next night, ensuring you break your poor sleep cycle.
3) Assess What Went Wrong With Your Sleep:
Take a moment to figure out what went wrong the previous night, leading to poor sleep quality.
Some questions to ask yourself include:
- Were you on your phone right before bed?
- Did you have a large snack before bed?
- Were you working on your computer right up to the light’s out?
- Was it unusually bright, loud, or warm in your room?
If possible, consider winding down earlier the following night, including getting into bed sooner so that you have more time to sleep.
Avoid using your phone an hour before bed. If you need time to calm your mind, try reading before drifting off.
Follow a relaxing bedtime routine every night. Optimize your sleep environment by finding your ideal sleeping temperature (60 to 65 degrees is best), making it dark, and eliminating noise, all of which contribute to better sleep quality.
Don’t Be Afraid to Take A Rest Day
Our culture is obsessed with productivity. Because of this, it can feel wrong to rest, or take a day off when you really need it.
Whether you take a day off depends on how fatigued you are and your responsibilities for the day ahead, as you don’t want to miss a workout every time you’re a little tired.
But, remember, rest can sometimes be more beneficial than a workout.
And if you’re struggling with the idea of not doing anything, try techniques such as foam rolling, stretching, massage, and active recovery workouts, which are much more low impact and will likely help you to have a better run the following day.
Listen to your body. If you can push through a short, slow run, go with that. Opt for a short weight training session if that seems more doable.
Or, pick stretching and foam rolling if it feels like the only thing you can manage.
Do what you can, focus on good sleep the next night, and prepare for a great run tomorrow.
