How Much Does Sleep Affect Your Cycling Performance? The Science

[@TarmacSkin]

I usually Fall Asleep when Dyaln starts referencing what studies reveal...

[@ElonMuckX]

New Sleep Channel: Dylan reads out loud, entire medical journals.

[@adammillsindustries.]

@@ElonMuckX LOL !!!!!!!!

[@jaredlash5002]

Every time I do an imperial century or more I have a really hard time getting good sleep. My entire body feels like it is still buzzing for hours after finishing.

[@KipsanBeck]

Trolling durianrider again backwards hat Dylan #legend #hypergainbeastmode

[@pjgalligan]

🤣

[@thelionskiln]

LOL Durian Rider is going to end up as a chomo, watch.

[@facediaper09]

DJ casting the pole of trolling looking to catch a big one!!!

[@roebbiej]

Everytime that durianrider photo appears in Dylan's video, God smiles.

[@BFinesilver2]

D-rider is tight about discs though. No argument against it.

[@austinbench110]

Watching this when I didn’t get enough sleep

[@jolenasorich7638]

Fax

[@yusufakoojee1608]

Watching this while getting ready for a big night out when i have an early morning ride

[@araveug72]

Haha same here

[@omniyambot9876]

It's 3am I still can't sleep because of excitement. I hope I could do 200km later with 3km elevation.

[@colebench1490]

Hi Austin

[@scottfindley1506]

Night before the day before is what coach in college always told us. Good Thursday night sleep is important for a Saturday event.

[@SR-fm1ft]

Perfect I’ve got nothing to worry about then, thanks Dylan. Glad to know I can keep staying up all night before races arguing with people in the comment section that rim brakes are best.

[@kevinderung8524]

The mind is powerful, when you are having trouble sleeping it becomes increasingly difficult to focus on positive visualization and increasingly easy to compound agitation

[@DaneKromer]

Back when a short work week was 50 hrs, I was always better on Sunday than Saturday. Power and heart rate verified. Retirement solved the problem. Being chronically rested has definitely helped compensate for the negative affects of aging.

[@jgogl9791]

I’m an insomniac. When I have a good night (7+ hrs), which is about once every three months, my performance is noticeably better on the bike the next day. Of course you can’t undo chronic damage with one full charge, and a lot of it could be psychological and feeling so good, but you can’t really cheat your heart rate - my heart rate is typically 5 bpm higher than normal for any given strain and the cadence is 5-10 rpm more too. And I sleep even worse after a hard workout, heart rate elevated. Sleep deprivation sucks.

[@ITsupportian]

I was gonna go to sleep.. and then I saw this... and I kept watching.. then youtube suggest more fun stuff..

[@kp-dr7tt]

I love how you included durianrider in there 🤣🤣

[@Ultegra10SPD]

Older riders need to recover more. But then gain first gym session in a yr was going to hurt regardless. Still managed an early bird saturday 2hrs in PZ1 before kiddos woke up. -U10

[@sandrochiavaroBeerCircles]

BHD is yelling in the back “cmon we know you want to talk about your whoop!!!” 🤣

[@avoycendeether8869]

Dylan's hair looks like he was JUST getting enough sleep.

[@Cypress1983]

During heavy build phases I was only able to pocket 4-5 hours of sleep a night due to difficulties falling asleep and then waking up around 1 am. This is anecdotal, but I solved the issue by hitting half an edible about 2 hours before bed, Hammer REM caps about an hour before, then eating a spoonful of peanut butter right before bed (the edible makes this easy to accomplish). My power numbers raised slightly, but my perceived fatigue on and off of the bike did a total 180.

[@matt.eggleton]

I recall your experience with Whoop was somewhat lukewarm. I find that the accountability partner aspect of the Whoop has been a really big positive impact on my sleep over the past couple years. Glad to see you acknowledge it may be useful the 09:00 mark. Now, if I could only get my arms around that pesky HRV!

[@oldanslo]

There are numerous other sleep tracking wearable devices that do not require a monthly $ub$cription. Are there demonstrated benefits to the other metrics that a Whoop provides?

[@ianfurqueron5850]

Timely video... since I just bowed out of a likely strenuous enduro-focused ride at the Shed partly because I slept terribly last night.

[@thegoodsamaritan4333]

Hello Coach. Thanks for your free videos. now i know why im having a hard time sleeping even though i felt tired after long rides.

[@trbeyond]

I’ve recently picked up doing Yoga Nidra instead of a nap and found it to be really useful.

[@bergerhardwarebikes1330]

I was just thinking about this earlier this morning and I was going to see if you already had a video for it.

[@finnnation]

Love the Glenvale crit footage from my hometown!

[@mattkretchmar6374]

Thanks Dylan -- love your videos. I wonder your thoughts about multi-day endurance events, like Tour Divide, where athletes might sleep only 2 hours per night for 2 weeks in a row. I often do a long ITT as well -- something like 24 to 36 hours. In the 24 hour range, I have often wondered about riding 5pm to 5pm vs riding from 8am to 8am. Personally I like the night-first and day-second approach. I've recorded better performances that way. Any thoughts?

[@clydea.hutchisoniv5742]

nice to hear because I'm a pro napper:)

[@andrewlovatoNYC]

I'd love a video on the topic of injury prevention. Pretty broad topic but could be interesting. Love the channel!

[@afpx8065]

Can’t believe you showed Ibon Zugasti’s video, vamos gallo!!!

[@mlegrand]

Great summary of studies here. I’ve found Polar’s watches to be the best sleep trackers from the watches I’ve tested. Currently I’m failing on the sleep front. 🤦‍♂️

[@ronwolfept]

I've heard Dr Cheri Mah from Standford speak on the effect of sleep on performance several times and cumulative sleep deficits clearly have a profound effect on performance

[@bakarenejayto5615]

Hey Dylan! I'm a dedicated young Cyclist and want to take my fitness to the next level, but I don't have the budget for a cyclo computer or a power meter, hr, cadence. I just want to ask If you can do a video about RPE put into training or explaining RPE or using RPE into training(specifically interal sessions). Would help a lot, but it's definitely okay if you don't. Love your videos man, keep it up!!🍻

[@kennethelliot8164]

Please do a video on stoopid 50. I have no idea how yall were putting down that kind of power on the more technical sections, truly impressive. I imagined what would BHD do when panic braking before that flat rock drop on the end of road hollow!

[@buzzman4860]

Watching this video at night will help you fall asleep quickly😉

[@mathewrose2951]

I've always noticed my morning wattage output is lower than in the afternoon, but I've also noticed that even waiting until the late morning after having coffee brings performance back in line. I always just assumed that the watts were there in the morning if needed, but a cup of coffee was a prerequisite to make me feel like pushing higher watts.

[@10ktube]

I can jump in on this - if I sleep poorly before a race, I'm fine. If I sleep poorly TWO nights before the race, it screws me up. I need the night that's 2 out to be solid. Then I'm good.

[@EstefanGerheim]

great info. Thx for sharing it mate.

[@ProfGoodlife]

Off Topic Question: My bike was broken for 3 weeks and I will get it back Tuesday. Therefore, I have not been training for 3 weeks (just running). I am going for a 4 day cycling holiday with some (fit) friends on Friday. How do I most efficiently train/rest on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in order to be at the best possible shape for the weekend?

[@bakarenejayto5615]

Great Videos man! I'm a young athlete and I just want to ask if you can do a video on how to get fast on 20 hours/week? I don't know where to put my long rides and interval sessions without overtraining, and I feel like I'm not gonna get a high quality workout if i dont recover enough from the long rides. Anyways cheers! Keep up the great vids dude!

[@choosyooozy139]

Thank you sir, much appreciated 🙏

[@centurn1]

How about non-stop multi-day events like Tour Divide? In there, one can spend additional time of sleep that help the recovery, but the benefit need to outweight this spent time.

[@bmxman817]

Hey Dylan can you do a vid on increasing your max power output?

[@darinsteele7091]

not enough sleep is worse than eating the wrong food, big time

[@tobiasTbager]

Just watched your bike setup video from BWR. And I heard you talking about lubing your chain mid race and it got me wondering as I use Squirt Lube wax and water emulsion on my tri bike because it is much easier to clean, therefore I was also considering using it on my gravel when it arrives. My question: Are there any reasons to why I should not use wax on my gravel bike and use oil lube instead?

[@anykarthik]

Followup Question: How does the time of the day that you performed your exercise (say, indoor trainer) affect your sleep? For example, is it better/worse/no different to be doing an hour of intervals before bedtime vs. mid-day vs. morning? The question here is not the quality of the workout, but the quality of the sleep after such a session

[@kimrice394]

I had the same same opinion. Long term sleep loss bad. 1 bad night prior to effort, meh. We’ve all had a restless night prior to a race or event. Doesn’t feel great but once in the effort the difference is not really measurable.

[@allaneddlemon7557]

Haha just did my XC race and only got 6 hours of sleep. I definitely felt it a bit but still took that W🥳

[@filmaynard]

Dylan, thanks as always! I’d love to hear your take on how to read the scientific literature critically. You do a great job pointing out flaws, such as a study that doesn’t replicate racing or training conditions, ignores individual variability to the extent that interventions which are strongly positive on average may have negative impacts to some populations, etc. Discussion of your analytical approach would be much appreciated!

[@lindsaywentz5245]

Very interesting. Recommendations for new parents??

[@barretxcr]

Trying to train/compete as an elite with a toddler that refuses to sleep (and still wakes up in the middle of the night for a couple hours) has been interesting. 2 years of sleepless nights. Starting In august we will add a newborn to that mix. I see just putting an IV coffee drip in my arm to merely function day to day tasks. LOL 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@famally]

I'm in 3 months now of bad sleep nights because of work stress and training in the evenings after work, it's very hard to keep my fitness high and to manage life, family and work all together in 24 hours. Tried so many natural substances and nothing seems to work. Every 6-7 days I just crash and sleep 12 hours straight. What are you recommendations for masters athletes who train 14-16 hours per week and having trouble with sleep and still don't reduce training hours and working as well?

[@bubbagump150]

Maslow's hierarchy of needs. #1 Rest!

[@duncancampbell2307]

Reading about study showing pros and domestiques having same power outputs during races but pros having more fatigue resistance (kept power curves after 1000 calories, 2000 calories etc. of riding in their legs, dometiques curve drops later). Any evidence base to effectively training fatigue resistance?

[@saynotothegreatreset]

I trains most days in the evening due to my work schedule then when I go to bed I can't fall a sleep that easy . Any thoughts on that Dylan ? Thanks 😊

[@SamMose]

Are you able to lower your body temp before heading to bed?

[@saynotothegreatreset]

@@SamMose I'll try a colder shower next time as I take hot showers all the time . Thanks for you tip 👍🏿

[@Bob_Shy_132]

I remember that...annoying.

[@saynotothegreatreset]

@@pureroadie I already done those , thanks a lot buddy !!

[@richardtickler8555]

train harder until you almost cant stay awake on the bike, then get your hyginist to clean you an put you to bed

[@bEbschi]

Hi Dylan. Just saw your 8h training ride. I would be very interested how you manage to bring 3000+ vegan calories. Guess you’re riding with backpack? Would appreciate a short answer and more so a video of course 😉 Cheers and keep going, it’s great to follow your activities. Hans

[@llowlio]

You got me! It’s 12:42am and i have a planned ride at 5am lmao

[@mastaballa86]

Hi Dylan, Love your content ! There a stupid question that been on my mind for a while. Im a heavier cyclist (trying to loose weight atm). I was climbing Alpe du zwift on my Neo 2, and every time same thing happen. I run out of gear. Every time this situation happen my cadence drop super low even tough im able to keep pushing on the pedals for a very long time. Why is this happening, why do cadence drop super low (60-70 rpm) even tough i seem to have the mustle strenght to keep on climbing to the top ? Thank you very much.

[@mastaballa86]

To be more precise, it feel like there a small pause in between each pedal stroke instead of being a smoot rotation.

[@yoyolu8318]

liked before i even watch.

[@shred3005]

I’m going stop staying up late arguing with people about the fact I enjoy my rim brakes (Ultegra) on my road bike than the disc brakes (Ultegra) on my gravel bike when on the road. Apparently it’s an affront to some people. Don’t loose sleep over it.

[@cripplingcaffeineaddiction3847]

Is this durianriders burner account?

[@sepg5084]

Nobody cares if you use rim or discs except people like you who argue with it. I use discs in front with because my fork only has disc brake mounts, and v-brakes in the rear because my frame only has v-brake mounts. I guess both sides of the argument would hate on me while i enjoy riding my franken-bike 😂

[@TheMASDrummer]

Watched this after a nightshift before going for an alpe du zwift pR

[@xgalvan1]

My whoop band always says I need 10hrs of sleep but that’s impossible working and have 2 kids, plus training. Alas. It never gives me a good recovery score!

[@wyattraisedbywolves]

Often when I go on an intense 50-70min ride I really struggle to get a good night sleep. It seems that my body is still turned up even if I am exhausted. Why is this? Is it dehydration? It is such a regular occurence, there must be a direct cause.

[@joeyr4869]

Knowing I need more sleep always helps me sleep much better

[@NMKY247]

I actually paused this video halfway through to get 8 hours of kip, then watched the second half sat on the porcelain throne to combine quality sleep and weight loss in the same 12 minutes #marginalgains

[@rostonnordell3218]

i've always taken the max recommended sleep and added 30 min on 🤣

[@TW-fv2zu]

HUGE - MUST be a Professional-Sleeper.

[@metamurph]

haha, funny I am watching this when I should already be in bed...but I have a little stretch time

[@mazo691]

NYT article on icing: www.nytimes.com/2021/04/21/well/move/exercise-icing-sore-muscles.html?action=click&module=Science%20%20Technology&pgtype=Homepage . Potential video subject (if not already discussed)? The research discussed in the article focuses on muscle tissues. It would be interesting to see the research expanded to joint swelling and the impact/risks associated with that swelling.

[@stephencaringal354]

Can you make videos like your riding your bike, or like recording your races and rides

[@jasonmcgrody9472]

Check the video from a few weeks ago. It was a race recap video.

[@ellismccoy]

Watching this with a new baby :-(

[@richardtickler8555]

show your baby this video and it will understand whats at risk here

[@martijnvdh]

Trained this afternoon, almost had an KOM.. WTF! Didn’t got the full 7 hours of sleep I guess ... 😂

[@BLITZKRIEG1]

hmmm I usually go out at 10am after being awake all night playing Assetto Corsa.

[@WHEREAMI42]

I always take a Hyper Gain Beast Mode in the cupcake flavor right before bed and sleep like a princess for 12 hours.

[@carlosgomezzzzzzz]

I train 2 to 3 hours per day and sleep 6 or 6 and a half hours

[@jetBlue083]

So, what you’re saying is...I should stop training and just ride my bike for funsies?

[@berglandvideo]

Literally watching this at 11pm 🙄

[@christopheralix8554]

Rim's for road..no question

[@Eirikkinserdal]

What about shift work?

[@kilianbader9786]

Its bad

[@madeiraislander]

For me 7 hours is a very poor night sleep :C

[@georgmtb9671]

I put out my best 5 min power after like 4 hours of sleep

[@adbailey78]

Watching this at 10 till 11pm. I feel attacked... Or among my people. Not sure which.

[@bisdak3886]

lol Im watching this at 3am

[@coreyreeder2321]

You’re either going to be a hungry Ranger or a sleepy Ranger.

[@milossubotic8582]

Hi Dylan, Thank you very much for the great content you are producing, I really enjoy it. I watched this video yesterday kzbin.info/www/bejne/iqmuqZecZcijnZo and generally, I have noticed that professional mountain bikers have super complicated gym routine. Could you please make a video and explain if and how much these kinds of routines are beneficial especially compared to more traditional gym workouts. Additionally, I think it would be very interesting to learn when cyclists should add this kind of training to their training plan. I mean would it be beneficial to add this to the training plan if you have 10 hours a week, 20, 30, or this time could be better spent on on-the- bike training and more traditional weight lifting sessions? Thanks,

[@chowzisiong7800]

But such research report mean. You also need to take into account the variation of results (e.g standard deviation)... so while the mean of an exercise performance under sleep deprived condition may not differ drastically from a non-sleep deprived condition, there could be more than just a couple of participants that demonstrate performance drops that many cyclists would be concerned about.

[@iacek.s]

Did I heard some morning bird?

[@gamby16a]

Watching this at 2 AM. I feel attacked. 😆☹

[@benanderson4639]

I'm watching this instead of sleeping

[@mickelkobeck7376]

I much rather ride in the AM

[@marcbuchel4873]

I fell asleep while watching this 🤣

[@KushPizzaSleep]

pros in europe sleep like 12 hours day

[@philipk4475]

Sick DR burn hahahaha

[@facediaper09]

Welcome to America/Earth. Where it's an open air, free range debt slave prison....and ONE must sacrifice beneficial sleep and rush in a 0430 KICR workout, to report for 10 hours of cubicle duty to pay taxes and feed family, and buy overpriced and heavily marketeted , Chinese garbsge with the leftover crumbs!!! not me btw....^^^IMHO^^^ of course.

[@richardtickler8555]

agree every cyclist should get $1000 a month just to keep up with the bike related bills

[@facediaper09]

Lifetime stimulus for living healthy 😆

[@Nwa_dw]

Coming from durianrider.....🤪

[@andrewrivera4029]

Are there any studies on fornication and improved cycling performance?🤭

[@SmellyBoy28]

I did read about how it relates to athletic performance once. From what I remember it has no significant effect

[@garthly]

I thought about that in the study of the college athletes based on the amount of time they stayed in bed. Did the testers really think they spent all that time sleeping?

[@syrus3k]

Lol, durian rider.

[@DelTorres]

Pretty sure BWHD uses this to fall asleep. Booooooooriiing /jk

[@jerickpizarra2753]

he talk like he just had enough sleep