8 hours continous sleep but thirsty, or good hydration but sleep interrupted?

Question

I see lots of recommendations of drinking enough water. Another usual fitness recommendation is getting a decent amount of sleep in order to help muscle growth and tissue repair (precious testosterone and growth hormone secretions are well known to happen mostly during deep sleep in adults).

But nobody says anything about how to reconcile both things there where they collide: drinking water immediately before going to bed will make you interrupt your sleep in order to go to the toilet.

The only way I can get eight hours of continuous sleep is by avoiding drinking any liquid two hours before bedtime. I drink water often during the day (specially immediately before and after exercise) but if I maintain my usual water intake until bedtime, then my sleep gets interrupted because I have to go to the toilet at least once.

From the way I fell the next morning, I am not sure which strategy is best: less continuous sleep but well hydrated, or 8 hours of sound sleep but thirsty. I guess low hydration must not favour much the natural anabolic processes in your body.

I once saw a recommendation in a Navy Seals fitness video in youtube. A military physician recommended high water intake before going to bed, no matter how many times that made you go to the toilet. But in the other end of the spectrum, interrupting sleep for going to the toilet often is considered a health condition (Nocturia).

I would like to hear how the more experiences athletes here manage that equilibrium.

Answer 1

You are correct that both sleep and hydration are very important, especially for a training athlete. Many professional triathletes sleep 9-11 hours/night, in addition to a nap during the day.

You stated that you ordinarily refrain from drinking water 2 hours before bed. This is the correct behavior. Furthermore, you should also not eat shortly before bed.

The reason to go to bed on an empty stomach (which is different from going to bed hungry) is to fully maximize the restorative processes that occur during sleep such as muscle building, capillary growth, and other beneficial processes. When you go to bed with water and/or food in your stomach, the body shifts some of the energy it would normally use for restorative processes, and instead directs those energies to metabolizing whats in your stomach.

Short answer: go to bed on empty stomach -> recover more quickly from training -> increased training load -> better results.