Mixed
Performing three sessions of high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) during a five-night period of sleep restriction (4 hours time in bed) mitigates the detrimental effects of sleep loss on glucose tolerance, mitochondrial respiratory function, and sarcoplasmic protein synthesis.
If you are going through a period of poor sleep (e.g., new parent, shift work, stress), do not skip exercise. Instead, perform short, high-intensity interval sessions (like 10x 60s sprints on a bike) 3 times during the week. This specific type of exercise appears to protect your body's ability to handle sugar and maintain muscle energy production, counteracting the negative effects of losing sleep.
We provide novel data demonstrating that these same detrimental effects are not observed when HIIE is performed during the period of sleep restriction. These data therefore provide evidence in support of the use of HIIE as an intervention to mitigate the detrimental physiological effects of sleep loss.
Why this rating
Randomized controlled trial with clear intervention and control groups, though sample size is small (n=24).
Source
Exercise mitigates sleep-loss-induced changes in glucose tolerance, mitochondrial function, sarcoplasmic protein synthesis, and diurnal rhythms
Nicholas J. Saner et al. · Molecular Metabolism · 2020
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