How much should you sleep when training x hours a week?

There is no direct link. We humans are created to be physically capable of achieving a lot. We have a great deal of energy at our disposal for this purpose. It gets interesting when the physical challenge is accompanied by mental or emotional stress.
To determine whether you are sufficiently recovered, you can actually assess yourself extremely well - by checking in with yourself each day and asking: am I ready for my training or not?

Here are a few tips:

• Sleep in at least 2x times a week for as long as you need to.
• Take a daily power nap.
• Pay attention to your dreams: not only the time spent in bed but also the REM phases are important.
• We all need varying amounts of sleep. Assess your sleep needs: how much sleep do you need to feel able-bodied?
• It is important to be able to pick yourself up and question yourself. Therefore, each day before you go to bed, ask yourself what stressed you the most. Even if it was just a small interpersonal incident - take it seriously.
• Create a fixed ritual before you go to bed. Read prayers, science fiction books, or listen to beautiful music to stimulate the right side of your brain.
• Sleep is a wonderful thing, but we no longer appreciate it as such. This is because our head is always filled with the activities of the day or those that await us tomorrow. If you always sleep well, you don't need an additional beach holiday to recover.
• Say a short prayer when you go to sleep - or words that give you strength.
• Go over the day’s most difficult situation in your mind again - preferably several times. Practice this until you can observe it closely without judging.

The most important thing is: be lazy more often! You're not being weak or worthless, just lazy. Being lazy is something extremely beautiful, because terrific ideas can sometimes arise from this energy! Hyperactive people achieve less and live shorter.

About the author: Roy Hinnen (born in 1966) moved to the USA as an 18-year-old where he trained with Dave Scott and Mark Allen. The ex-professional triathlete achieved his best Ironman time in 1991 with 8:35 h. At the end of his active career, he founded tridome GmbH, through which he sold his own neoprene brand and TriBikes, as well as FlussPool GmbH, with which he currently sells counter-current pools for home use. He is the owner of the first & only flume in Switzerland and has been coaching athletes of all performance levels since 2002.