The impact of sleeping with reduced glycogen stores on immunity and sleep in triathletes

Purpose We investigated the effects of a 3-week dietary periodization on immunity and sleep in triathletes. Methods 21 triathletes were divided into two groups with different nutritional guidelines during a 3-week endurance training program including nine twice a day sessions with lowered (SL group) or maintained (CON group) glycogen availability during the overnight recovery period. In addition to performance tests, sleep was monitored every night. Systemic and mucosal immune parameters as well as the incidence of URTI were monitored every week of the training/nutrition protocol. Two-ways ANOVA and effect sizes were used to examine differences in dependent variables between groups at each time point. Results The SL group significantly improved 10 km running performance (−1 min 13 s, P < 0.01, d = 0.38), whereas no improvement was recorded in the CON group (−2 s, NS). No significant changes in white blood cells counts, plasma cortisol and IL-6 were recorded over the protocol in both groups. The vitamin D status decreased in similar proportions between groups, whereas salivary IgA decreased in the SL group only ( P < 0.05, d = 0.23). The incidence of URTI was not altered in both groups. All participants in both groups went to bed earlier during the training program (SL −20 min, CON −27 min, P < 0.05, d = 0.28). In the SL group, only sleep efficiency slightly decreased by 1.1 % ( P < 0.05, d = 0.25) and the fragmentation index tended to increase at the end of the protocol ( P = 0.06). Conclusion Sleeping and training the next morning regularly with reduced glycogen availability has minimal effects on selected markers of immunity, the incidence of URTI and sleeping patterns in trained athletes.