The average person needs seven or more hours of sleep every day. A hard-training endurance athlete may need more. As the intensity and volume of training rise so does the need for slumber. For this reason, and because they realize how critical it is to their success, many professional athletes get in 10 or more hours of sleep a day including a daily nap. Restricting alcohol, which interferes with sleep patterns, prior to retiring.
Training is much more than simply sweating and breathing hard.
It also involves adequate rest. By giving as much importance to sleep as to exercise, your training consistency will improve as the quality of workouts rises. The obvious result is better performance. Joe Friel is the author of The Cyclist's Training Bible, The Triathlete's Training Bible, and Cycling Past 50. He is a certified coach by USA Cycling and USA Triathlon and has been coaching endurance athletes for two decades.