We’ve all heard that sleep is important—but how bad is one bad night really? In this week’s episode, Anthony unpacks the physiology behind acute sleep deprivation and explains why even a few hours less can have measurable effects on strength, endurance, hormones, and mental performance.
In This Episode You’ll Learn:
- What happens to your body and brain after a single poor night of sleep
- How sleep loss impacts testosterone, growth hormone, cortisol, and glycogen resynthesis
- Why your reaction time, coordination, and balance mimic being legally drunk
- The drop in strength and endurance you can expect (with real data ranges)
- How to modify your training to reduce injury risk when you’re tired
- Evidence-backed strategies to bounce back — caffeine, creatine, naps, and recovery routines
- How to prevent one night of poor sleep from turning into a full-blown performance decline
Key Takeaways:
- Even one night of <5 hours sleep can reduce testosterone 5–10% and halve growth hormone release.
- Reaction times and decision-making degrade to the level of legal intoxication after ~24 hours awake.
- Training at high intensity while sleep-deprived increases injury risk — focus on technique and aerobic work instead.
- Creatine (20–30 g acutely) may offset cognitive decline from sleep deprivation.
- Sleep hygiene and recovery practices can restore performance faster than you think.
Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro: How bad is one night of sleep?
01:15 – What happens physiologically when you’re sleep deprived
03:00 – Hormones and recovery breakdown
04:45 – Reaction time and cognitive performance
06:00 – How sleep loss affects strength and endurance
08:30 – How to train when you’re sleep deprived
11:00 – Creatine and cognitive protection
14:00 – Caffeine, naps, and recovery tools
16:30 – Sleep hygiene and recovery habits
19:00 – Final takeaways and key lessons
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