How Does Sleep Affect Mental Health?

As athletes, we strive to push our limits. Every training session, exercise, and rep set challenges our bodies and minds. We devote attention and dedication to our time in the gym, mental training, nutrition, and recovery. However, one key factor often doesn’t get the attention it deserves: sleep.

In my 30 years as an athlete and a coach in Olympic Weightlifting, I’ve seen athletes work so hard to train at their best, only to find themselves struggling with recovery. Suddenly, they are hitting a wall in training or underperforming and can’t understand why—they are eating well, prioritizing body recovery and restoration, and taking their time to warm up. Suddenly they are more emotional than usual, and their mental health is suffering. 

Something that is so often overlooked but plays a significant role in performance, recovery, and mental well-being is SLEEP. It is not just a small part of the equation—it’s essential.

Sleep and recovery: the key to strength 

In Olympic Weightlifting and CrossFit®, we spend hours working on technique, building strength, and pushing limits. But no matter how hard we train, the real gains come from recovery, not just the effort we put in in the gym. Nutrition and body restoration are huge parts of this effort, but recovery truly happens while we sleep.

When we sleep, our body is busy rebuilding muscle fibers, restoring energy reserves, and flushing out metabolic waste. If we are not getting enough sleep, our muscles don’t repair fully, leading to delayed recovery, chronic fatigue, and increased risk of injury. I’ve seen athletes with minimal rest show up each day and try to tough it out, only to find that soon their progress stalls—they suddenly hit a wall, their bodies start to hurt, they feel slower, weaker, and less powerful in training. Over time, lack of sleep leads to chronic overtraining, which is detrimental to any athlete’s performance. Soon they find themselves in a hole they are working overtime to crawl out of.

From personal experience as both an athlete, and a coach of athletes who have been in this situation, I know that the harder you train, the more you need to prioritize recovery. 

And recovery doesn’t happen if you’re shaving off hours on sleep. Quality rest accelerates the repair process, reduces soreness, and ultimately allows you to show up each day to training and life more effectively. I believe that if you want to keep working hard to gain strength, get faster, become more explosive, shave those seconds off and continue improving, prioritize your sleep as much as you prioritize your workouts.

Sleep and mental health: sharpen your mind for performance

Sleep isn’t just about muscle recovery; it’s also profoundly connected to mental health and cognitive function. We athletes often focus on physical gains, but mental sharpness is just as critical—especially in high-stakes situations like competitions or heavy Olympic lifts.

Poor sleep affects your ability to concentrate, process information, and stay focused. Sleep deprivation increases stress hormone levels like cortisol, affecting recovery and impairing your ability to make quick, confident decisions during a workout or competition. I’ve witnessed athletes lose their edge mentally when they don’t prioritize rest, whether during a challenging WOD or when they need the confidence and mental focus for a tough Snatch or Clean & Jerk. Sleep is vital for maintaining mental clarity and keeping your competitive edge. Sleep is necessary to sharpen focus, intention, purposefulness, and energy in the body, without a layer of brain fog and overall fatigue

Additionally, chronic lack of sleep can lead to mood swings, anxiety, and even depression. As an athlete, your mental state directly influences your performance—whether it’s your ability to push through a tough session or keep your cool during a competition. I’ve worked with World and Olympic-level athletes who’ve found that consistently good sleep has been the key to their mental resilience. 

For me, I have Severe Anxiety Disorder, and PTSD. When my sleep isn’t prioritized, I struggle to have the tools to cope with my anxiety, I become more prone to anxiety triggers which can lead to panic attacks, it is harder for me to regulate my emotions, and have an increased sensitivity to stress. Aside from exacerbating my current mental health conditions, lack of sleep also makes me irritable, have extremely low patience, incredibly emotional, and I have a difficult time concentrating

So you see, sleep is not just about physical strength; it’s also about emotional balance, focus, and mental toughness.

The science behind sleep: why it’s more than just a luxury

I am clearly not a scientist, but I have been around tired athletes for 30 years. I have also been a tired athlete for many of them. And when I am tired, my training, my ability to recover each day, my work, and my mental health greatly suffer. For some, it is easy to think of sleep as something we “fit in” when we can. But the science shows that sleep is just as important as our training schedule. Sleep affects your endocrine system, which regulates hormones that are key players in muscle growth, recovery, and overall performance. Inadequate sleep decreases the secretion of these hormones, which means your body has less ability to repair itself and build strength. As I said, I am not a scientist or a doctor, so I don’t have all the knowledge behind this, but that is a research paper for another day.

On a cellular level, sleep also influences your immune system. Getting adequate rest boosts immune function, while sleep deprivation weakens your immune system. Are you repeatedly getting sick, skipping training, or feeling completely rundown and out of energy? Your chances of getting sick or injured increase if you're constantly under sleep and therefore under recovered. Over the years, I’ve learned that athletes prioritizing sleep are far less likely to experience burnout or injuries derailing progress. Athletes who train at least 8-9 hours often have Wolverine recovery—and this is not a joke!

Building better sleep habits: tips for athletes

Here are a few tips that I stay religious too, that I have also shared with athletes I coach to start prioritizing sleep to optimize your athletic performance.

Set a consistent sleep schedule: 

Aim for 8-9 hours of sleep each night. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends, to regulate your circadian rhythm.

Create a sleep-friendly environment: 

Make your sleep space cool, dark, and quiet. Invest in a comfortable mattress and pillows to help sleep deeper, more restful. If you follow me on Instagram, or are ever on a trip with me, you will know that I travel with my pillow EVERYWHERE I go. No matter how uncomfortable a hotel bed is, I sleep better if I have my pillow. Nothing is worse than horrible pillows that make it impossible to get comfortable. Find what makes you feel comfortable, and soak up that rest. 

Limit stimulants and screen time: 

Avoid caffeine and other stimulants several hours before bed. The blue light from screens also interferes with sleep, so try to turn off electronics at least 30 minutes before bedtime. I start getting ready for bed at the same time each night. I keep my phone plugged in in my bathroom so it is not next to my bed. No social media, no scrolling, nothing negative or something that will cause me to be stressed, anxious, or “charged up”. That time before you go to sleep is the perfect time to pick up that book you’ve wanted to read, journal, and let your mind wind down. I read before bed each night to decompress and relax, which is one of my favorite times of the day!

Use sleep to recharge your mind: 

Mental relaxation techniques, like deep breathing or meditation, can help calm your mind and prepare you for quality rest. Your mind needs recovery just as much as your body does. Sometimes after I am done reading, I will close my eyes and meditate, visualize, or go through my day’s gratitude list. This helps me fall asleep to something positive, and allows me to not lie awake with the day's stress on my mind. 

The bottom line: sleep is non-negotiable

As athletes, we often think of our bodies as machines—pushing, challenging, and striving for more. But a machine only works properly when all parts function optimally—fueled, rested, TAKEN CARE OF! Sleep is one of those essential parts of our training regimen that supports everything else, and should be taken just as seriously as the mental work we do, the time in the gym we spend working our bodies, and the restorative recovery we schedule for our bodies. Without adequate sleep, our physical gains will be slower, our progress can be stalled, our mental performance may be weakened, and we increase our risk of

So, whether preparing for a competition or simply looking to improve your daily performance, work to make sleep a priority. It is so important, necessary, and often taken for granted. Take it from someone who’s spent years trying to climb my way out of the trenches—when I started to prioritize your sleep, I noticed a difference in every training session, my daily life, my communication and my relationships, my recovery, the way my body felt when I woke up in the morning AND while I trained, and most importantly—in my overall mental and physical well-being.

Sleep doesn’t just make us feel better, because I mean, who doesn’t love a good night’s sleep or a nice nap—it makes us a better athlete and person. And isn’t that what we’re all striving for?