Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Date of Graduation
5-2024
Semester of Graduation
Spring
Publish
yes
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science (BS)
Department
Department of Kinesiology
First Advisor
Trent Hargens
Abstract
Introduction: Previous research has established that poor sleep quality negatively impacts aerobic exercise performance. A majority of that research has examined extreme sleep disruption like complete sleep deprivation or multiple nights of reduced sleep. Little research exists examining the effect of a singular night of sleep restriction (SR) on performance, and there is even less research on the associated perceptual feelings and outcomes from SR that may influence performance. Previous research from our laboratory has suggested that a single night of SR may impair performance, but did not account for sleep inertia or examine any perceptual factors. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of single-night SR on perceptual factors of exertion, sleepiness, fatigue, and enjoyment during a 20-minute bout of steady-state, submaximal exercise in active, college-aged individuals.
Methods: Male (n=6) and female (n=7) college-aged students (age 21.0 ± 1.2 yr.) underwent two randomly assigned sleep conditions, one of normal sleep (NS, 8 hours of sleep), or restricted sleep (RS, 3 hours of sleep). After each specified sleep condition, subjects completed a 20-minute, fixed-intensity, steady-state exercise bout on a cycle ergometer at 50% of their maximal Watts, determined from a maximal graded exercise test. Heart rate (HR), ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), oxygen consumption (VO2), and ratings of sleepiness, fatigue, and exercise enjoyment were obtained. Repeated measures ANOV A was utilized to assess the main effect for sleep condition on RPE and physiological variables across the 20-minute steady-state bout. Paired sample t-test evaluated mean differences in ratings of sleepiness and fatigue between sleep conditions.
Results: Sleepiness and fatigue were significantly greater under the SR condition (P< 0.05), and enjoyment was significantly lower under the SR condition (P< 0.05). Subjects reported higher RPE values under the SR condition across the 20-minute exercise trial (P=0.007). Across the 20-minute exercise trial, RER was higher with SR compared to NS (P< 0.001) despite no differences in HR or VO2.
Conclusion: Results indicate that a single night of SR has a significant impact on perceptual feelings of sleepiness, fatigue, and exercise exertion, with no difference in HR or VO2. Additionally, findings suggest that one night of SR may influence substrate utilization, with a shift towards greater fat oxidation. Additional research is warranted to investigate the effects of short-term SR on aerobic exercise performance the following day, considering both perceptual and metabolic responses. Such studies will contribute to a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved.
