Sleep and Recovery for CrossFitters and Other Athletes

Are you sleeping enough to keep up with an intense training program? The truth is, sleep and muscle recovery go hand in hand, especially if you’re working out as hard as CrossFit athletes do. And yet, we tend to prioritize other training elements, such as nutrition and mobility, over our recovery. Today, let’s look at how important sleep is to your training and recovery.

CrossFit and Sleep

CrossFitters pride themselves on pushing through the toughest workouts. Whether it's the suck of a WOD, the sticky part of a lift, or a trip to the gym when they really aren’t feeling it, CrossFitters are great at the grind.

But this “go, go, go” attitude has a dark side when you ignore the need to rest and can’t wind down at the end of the day. If anything, CrossFitters need MORE rest and MORE sleep than the average fitness aficionado or weekend warrior.

Training at a high level takes its toll on your body, even when you do it correctly. This is because, at its most basic, strength training or athletic conditioning results in micro tears to your muscles. Rest is necessary to give your body a chance to decrease this inflammation and repair your tissues. With consistency, this process is what increases your strength and athletic performance over time. 

But not all sleep is equal — and not all sleep supplements are built to support your recovery. That’s why Thirdzy skips melatonin and sedatives, and instead focuses on ingredients that support deep, natural, recovery-boosting sleep.

5 Reasons CrossFitters Need More Sleep

Because their training regimens are so intense, it makes sense that CrossFitters would need more sleep than your average gym-goers. Let’s look at five reasons CrossFitters and other athletes with high-intensity training plans should work more sleep into their recoveries. 

1. CrossFit WODs Are Not Varied Enough

Even if you’ve got excellent programming, the nature of the functional movements in CrossFit means there is rarely a muscle group that gets time off in a WOD. 

Pushing, pulling, pressing, squatting, hinging, and lunging … You might only have two or three of those in each workout, but you’re always going to have some combination of those movements. And you’re nearly always going to have involvement of your arms, legs, core, shoulders, and back.

Multi-joint, functional movements are great for you, but they’re also extremely fatiguing. So even if the WODs are “constantly varied,” they’re not varied enough. Rest is necessary if you want to avoid overuse injuries.

As a general guideline for balancing your training and recovery time, the more joints you use in your workouts, the more rest and sleep you’ll need.

Slow-Wave Sleep and Human Growth Hormone

If you aren’t already convinced of the important role sleep plays in your recovery, consider this: During slow-wave sleep (SWS), which is the deepest stage of sleep, up to 70 percent of your body’s human growth hormone (HGH) is released. 

HGH is absolutely critical for not only muscle growth but also muscle repairs. This means that when you don’t get enough sleep, you’re not giving your body the opportunity it needs to fully recover. 

💡Recovery Tip: Your muscles don’t grow when you’re working out. They grow during deep sleep — when growth hormone is released, inflammation is cleared, and tissues rebuild.

2. CrossFit WODs Focus on Strength AND Cardiovascular Output

When you train using many different muscle groups, you’re asking your muscles AND your cardiovascular system to work hard, and both are going to need recovery time.

Beyond the physical structures that need repairing and remodeling after the micro trauma of a workout, there are energy systems that need replenishment (think glycogen stores) and metabolic byproducts, like lactic acid, that your body needs to clear. This all requires time and energy, specifically time and dedicated energy while you’re not awake.

Slow-Wave Sleep and the Parasympathetic Nervous System

Slow-wave sleep (SWS) activates your parasympathetic nervous system (your “rest and digest” mode) while suppressing your fight-or-flight sympathetic system. This changeover allows your body the chance to re-bolster your immune system and regenerate the tissues that endured micro-damage during your training. 

3. CrossFit Requires Skill Work

Double-unders, muscle-ups, toes-to-bar, butterfly pull-ups, handstand push-ups, Olympic lifts … These are all complex, technically demanding skills that CrossFit athletes use in workouts. They’re seemingly impossible and incredibly humbling to beginner athletes, and something we all strive to be better at.

Have you ever noticed how much harder it is to do a workout that involves movements that you suck at? That’s because it takes tons of physical resources and mental energy to learn and perform new physical skills.

Scientific literature shows that we need sleep to retain new skills. Your brain doesn’t really grasp new motor patterns until you’ve slept on them. Even more exciting is that people get better at a skill that they’ve been practicing after they sleep — even without additional practice!

Sleep science also indicates that periods of intense focus and learning lead to more time spent in deep sleep the following night — an indication that your body desperately needs those Zzz’s. 

How Sleep Helps You Learn New Skills

At the beginning of your night, during Stage 1 sleep, your sleep spindles transfer new movement patterns — such as your timing on a muscle-up or the bar path on a clean — into your long-term memory.

Later, after your REM sleep kicks in, those motor memories move from your hippocampus to your neocortex, helping you lock in your new skills. This means that adequate REM sleep is crucial if you want to perfect new skills.

4. “No Rest Days” Is the Culture in CrossFit

If taking rest days stresses you out and you’re committed to doing “rest day WODs,” then it’s even more important that you focus on getting enough great sleep every night.

While there is a lot of individual variation for exactly how much sleep each person needs,  your need increases when you’re demanding a lot from your body. CrossFit burnout is prevalent, but it’s also avoidable. 

While managing your program volume and intensity goes a long way, it's also imperative that you treat sleep as an important part of your fitness. You should track, plan for, and support your sleep since great sleep performance is the best way to avoid overtraining and burnout. 

More Deep Sleep Equals Less Stress

Deep sleep helps to keep stress at bay. It suppresses cortisol, your body’s main stress hormone. If you skip a night’s sleep or don’t enter the deep sleep stage, your cortisol levels remain elevated or even increase. 

This can give you brain fog and make you feel tired and less capable of performing well during training or a competition. It can also result in disruptions to your body’s process for metabolizing glucose, leaving you insulin resistant. 

Have you ever felt super grumpy following a night of bad sleep? That’s because a lack of REM sleep heightens the activity in your amygdala, which increases your emotional reactivity. This can show up as irritability or even aggressive behaviors during a training session or competition. Needless to say, that won’t really help your performance — or make you popular with the rest of your team. To avoid these negative outcomes, make every effort to get a good night’s sleep.

5. Timing Matters More Than You Think

Your body’s circadian rhythms affect everything, from your core body temperature to the release of certain hormones. These rhythms influence the best time for you to train. If you feel like your peak physical output is during the late afternoon or early evening, then after work could be the best time for you to tackle a hard WOD.

Attempting to train during the low points in your circadian rhythm — such as early mornings or late at night — may prove to be a struggle. Not only that, but it could result in injuries due to fatigue and a lack of mental focus.

The Truth About Melatonin

When it comes to sleep timing, one of the most important hormones to discuss is melatonin. As evening approaches, your body’s melatonin levels naturally elevate, signaling to your body that it’s time to rest.

While it can be tempting to regularly supplement with melatonin in an attempt to fall asleep and stay asleep, research has shown that long-term melatonin use can affect your hormones and metabolism in undesirable ways. 

A smarter choice is a chelated magnesium such as magnesium bisglycinate, which is gentle on your digestive system and won’t negatively impact your hormones or metabolism. This is just one reason why so many people take magnesium for sleep, and why it’s an ingredient in Dr. Andrew Huberman’s sleep stack. 

Before starting any supplements or herbs for sleep, discuss your options with your doctor to determine what’s right for you.

Final Thoughts on Why CrossFitters Need More Sleep

If you’re a committed CrossFitter or other elite athlete, aim for 9 to 10 hours of sleep per night. You can make your environment more conducive to rest by following these tips:

• Use comfortable bedding made of natural fabrics (avoid synthetic materials).

• Ensure good airflow.

• Invest in a quality mattress and a hypoallergenic pillow.

• Wash your bedding weekly.

• Try taking a collagen sleep aid or GABA sleep supplement to promote quality sleep and assist with muscle repairs.

You’ll know you’re getting enough sleep if you wake up without an alarm feeling refreshed and ready for the day’s workout ahead of you.

At Thirdzy, we’ve built our recovery sleep formula around this exact need — not just to knock you out, but to help your body rebuild overnight. No melatonin. No fog. Just clean, deep recovery.

Sleep tight,

Dr. Justine Luchini

 

Frequently Asked Questions

How many hours of sleep should CrossFit athletes aim for?

CrossFitters should aim for 9 to 10 hours of sleep per night to support full physical and cognitive recovery.

Can poor sleep really impact my performance in the gym?

Yes, a poor night of sleep impairs your strength, endurance, reaction time, and ability to retain new motor skills.

What stage of sleep is most important for muscle recovery?

Slow-wave sleep (SWS) is the most critical stage for muscle repair because this is when your body releases the most human growth hormone (HGH).

Does sleep affect my ability to learn new CrossFit skills?

Yes, both sleep spindles and REM sleep help consolidate new motor patterns and movement skills that you’ve learned during the day into your long-term memory.

What happens if I consistently skip REM sleep?

Chronic REM sleep deprivation can increase your emotional reactivity and impair your focus, which negatively affects your performance and mindset while you’re training.

When is the best time of day to do a WOD?

Most people perform best in the late afternoon to early evening, when their circadian rhythms naturally peak.

Does melatonin help with muscle recovery?

No, melatonin does not improve recovery. While it can help regulate your sleep-wake cycle or shift your circadian rhythm, it doesn’t support the deep, restorative stages of sleep where muscle repair and hormone regeneration happen. In fact, melatonin can suppress your natural melatonin production if you use it regularly and may interfere with hormone balance — especially in active individuals.

Can my mattress and bedding affect my recovery?

Absolutely. Poor bedding can disrupt your deep and REM sleep, limiting your body’s ability to fully recover from training.

 

Subscribe to our mailing list to get our best sleep science takeaways and Thirdzy promotions in your inbox.

*** The views expressed in this article are those of one expert. They are the opinions of the expert and do not necessarily represent the complete picture of the topic at hand. This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

References

1. Rasch, Björn, and Jan Born. “About sleep’s role in memory.” Physiological reviews vol. 93,2 (2013): 681-766. doi:10.1152/physrev.00032.2012

2. Walker, Matthew P. “The role of slow wave sleep in memory processing.” Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine vol. 5,2 Suppl (2009): S20-6.