Association between training volume and sleep quality of amateur triathletes

Journal of Applied Sports Sciences 10(1): 16-23, doi: 10.37393/JASS.2026.10.01.2

Luiz Vieira da Silva Neto^‡§, Luiz Jose Solon-Júnior^|¶#, Tatiana Albuquerque Melo^¤, Orival Andries Junior^«

‡ Vale do Acaraú State University, Sobral, Brazil§ Federal University of Piauí, Piauí, Brazil| Leão Sampaio University Center, Juazeiro do Norte, Brazil¶ Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa, Brazil# Regional University of Cariri, Iguatu, Brazil¤ Federal University of Ceará, Sobral, Brazil« State University of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

Corresponding author: Luiz Jose Solon-Júnior ( sluis424@gmail.com )

Academic editor: Lubomir Petrov

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), which permits to copy and distribute the article for non-commercial purposes, and the original author and source are credited. Adapted content must be distributed under the same license

Citation: da Silva Neto LV, Solon-Júnior LJ, Melo TA, Andries Junior O (2026) Association between training volume and sleep quality of amateur triathletes. Journal of Applied Sports Sciences 10(1): 16-23. https://doi.org/10.37393/JASS.2026.10.01.2

Abstract

Sleep is widely recognized as a key factor for recovery and athletic performance, yet its relationship with training demands in triathletes, who sustain high training volumes across three disciplines, remains unclear. Thus, this study aimed to examine whether associations exist between sleep duration, sleep quality, and training volume in amateur triathletes. A cross-sectional design was applied, including 151 athletes (men: N = 108, 38.6 ± 8.1 years, 7.8 ± 1.8 sessions/week; women: N = 43, 39.3 ± 7.6 years, 6.5 ± 1.6 sessions/week). Participants completed two questionnaires: one on training volume during the past month, including the longest swimming, cycling, and running sessions, and another assessing sleep duration on the night before the longest training session and sleep quality via the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Results showed that men reported higher weekly training volume (741.3 ± 987.9 km) compared to women (595.2 ± 344.2 km). Male triathletes also exhibited poorer sleep quality (PSQI score = 6.31 ± 2.4) than females (5.21 ± 2.0), although both groups indicated overall poor sleep quality. No signiﬁ cant correlations were observed between PSQI scores and training volumes across disciplines or total training volume in either sex. Also, sleep duration before the longest training session showed weak, non-signiﬁ cant correlations with session volume. In conclusion, despite high training loads and poor sleep quality, no inverse relationship was identiﬁ ed between training volume and sleep variables in amateur triathletes. Limitations include the cross-sectional design and reliance on self-reported measures. In practical terms, the ﬁ ndings highlight that sleep quality issues in triathletes may not be directly attributable to training volume, suggesting other contributing factors. This study provides original evidence addressing a gap in the literature by clarifying the lack of association between sleep and training demands in endurance athletes.

Keywords

Sleep Quality, Training Volume, Triathletes, Endurance Performance