A pilot study investigating the effects of acute sleep restriction and its relationship to markers of muscle recovery from a single session of exercise induced muscle damage in healthy untrained males

Abstract

Sleep loss can affect many aspects of human performance including time to exhaustion, muscular strength, focus and mood. These effects can further lead to health risks and medical conditions. With increasingly busy lives humans are often faced with a failure to attain adequate sleep following performance of resistance exercise. This thesis aims to investigate the relationship between disrupted sleep and markers of muscle recovery from a single session of damaging resistance exercise. 16 healthy males (mean age 23 ± 17 years, height 180.6 ± 15.4 cm, mass 87.4 ± 30.7 kg) all performed baseline testing of common recovery markers (pain tolerance, limb volume (LV), serum creatine kinase and maximal voluntary contraction (MVC)), before undergoing a protocol of 5 sets of 10 reps eccentrically induced muscle damage to the Bicep Brachii. Sleep deprived group (SD, n=8) underwent two nights of sleep which was restricted to four hours total time in bed Full sleep group (FS, n=8) adhered to normal sleeping conditions. Throughout the week all baseline tests were retested each day. Findings from the study confirmed that sleep restriction was achieved (p=0.001 d=0.92) and muscle damage was shown across all tests except creatine kinase (MVC p≤0.001, d=0.57; LV p=0.006, d=0.17; Pain at 90° p= 0.003, d=0.59; Pain at 180° p=0.003, d=1.33; Pain at Full Contraction p=0.001, d=1.59; General Arm Pain p=0.005 d=0.69), there were no differences in the recovery pattern for any of the markers observed between the SD group and FS group. In conclusion, two nights of sleep restriction to four hours does not appear to impair markers of recovery following damaging resistance exercise in the Bicep Brachii, however further investigation is required in order to fully conclude the effectiveness of sleep as a recovery aid.