Sleep and muscle regeneration

In contrast to wakefulness, the main characteristics of sleep are minimal motor activity and a very low responsiveness. It has been suggested that important restorative processes take place in the musculoskeletal system during sleep, particularly the relaxation of the skeletal muscles (Dattilo et al., 2011). This hypothesis is supported by both the increase in growth hormone levels directly after falling asleep and the increase in deep sleep after heavy physical exertion (Kölling et al., 2019). Therefore, in a current project, we are investigating local physiological changes both after exercise training and during sleep using, among others, Near-infrared Spectroscopy, also known as NIRS (Feldmann & Erlacher, 2021; see video). The findings aim to emphasize the importance of sleep as a regenerative measure in sports (Kellmann et al. , 2018). Furthermore, we are interested in examining whether and how physiological regeneration processes are reflected in dream content (Erlacher & Ehrlenspiel, 2018; Erlacher & Schredl, 2008).

Selected Publications:

Kölling, S., Duffield, R., Erlacher, D., Venter, R. & Halson, S. L. (2019). Sleep-related issues for recovery and performance in athletes. International Journal of Sports Physiology & Performance, 14(2), 144–148. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2017-0746

Erlacher, D. & Ehrlenspiel, F. (2018). Sleep, dreams, and athletic performance. In M. Kellmann & J. Beckmann (Eds.), Sport, Recovery, and Performance: Interdisciplinary Insights (pp. 168–182). Routledge.

Erlacher, D. & Schredl, M. (2008). Cardiovascular responses to dreamed physical exercise during REM lucid dreaming. Dreaming, 18(2), 112–121. https://doi.org/10.1037/1053-0797.18.2.112

Feldmann, A. & Erlacher, D. (2021). Critical oxygenation: Can muscle oxygenation inform us about critical power? Medical Hypotheses, 150:110575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2021.110575

Kellmann, M., Bertollo, M., Bosquet, L., Brink, M., Coutts, A. J., Duffield, R., Erlacher, D.,. . . Beckmann, J. (2018). Recovery and performance in sport: Consensus statement. International Journal of Sports Physiology & Performance, 13(2), 1150–1154. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2017-0759

Literature:

Dattilo, M., Antunes, H. K. M., Medeiros, A., Mônico Neto, M., Souza, H. S., Tufik, S. & de Mello, M. T. (2011). Sleep and muscle recovery: Endocrinological and molecular basis for a new and promising hypothesis. Medical Hypotheses, 77(2), 220-222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2011.04.017

Contact:

Daniel Erlacher

Andri Feldmann