I notice whenever I am sleep deprived (only get 4 hours or so), after waking up on the second day, after a full night of sleep, my hamstrings are usually sore. It has happened several times, and no other muscle group seems affected.
So
Why would sleep deprivation cause muscle pain the next day (not the day you wake up sleep deprived, but the day after)
Why would it only affect that particular muscle group.
One possible explanation is that being sleep deprived, you tend to slouch more. This could case a pull on your hamstrings or cause an unstable effect in your body that recruits your hamstrings to correct balance. As a result, you are sore the next day.
I don’t know but I’d like to find out.
I wouldn’t necessarily call my problem hamstring pain but when I’m seriously sleep-deprived, my left calf aches like crazy. I always thought it was just a quirk.
Anecdotally, a while ago, I had the same problem. It was the back of my knee, actually. Turns out, sleep didn’t have anything to do with it. It was sore because of instead of sleeping, I was sitting in my computer chair or driving. Either way, I was sitting too long. If I got up to go anywhere, it was to go to bed. Is it possible, it’s not “too little sleep” but “too much ___ing”?
another anecdotal post
If I really push my own sleep limits I get terrible cramps in my legs.
As in - two days in a row with only 4 hours of sleep each.
It’s become predictable for me. I’ll wake up on day three. While still in bed (it seems always to happen right when I wake up) I’ll get an agonizing cramp in my calf. Either or both legs. Usually 2-3 minutes of pure agony (to the point of shouting aloud “WTF?! GD it! FARRRRRRRK!”) It fades very slowly, I curse the gods, then I try to get back to a proper sleep routine.
After that, my calf muscle is very, very sore for at least three days.
x2
I don’t know how old you are, or your body type, but fatigue and other factors (sitting too long in one place, for example) can put stress on your core and lower back.
That can cause all sorts of interconnected muscle and joint issues in your shoulders, lower back, hamstrings and calves/ankles as you unconsciously compensate for the weakness by stressing other muscle groups.
Hamstrings - especially tight hamstrings, that haven’t been stretched regularly - hip flexors, and other leg muscles often need to start carrying a load (that they aren’t normally used to carrying) when your core and lower back start to become fatigued.
I have a similar problem with my eyes. Well not my eye persay but the muscle to just to left of my left eye. If I don’t get enough sleep, all the next day the muscle twitches like crazy.
As soon as I close my eyes and relax the twitch stops.
So I imagine if an eye muscle can be effected, why not another muscle?
How about caffeine use?
When I haven’t gotten enough sleep I use much more caffeine (coffee, soda, etc.) than I normally would. I’ve found overuse of caffeine to cause muscle spasms and soreness, even days after I’ve use too much of it. When I’ve been a “feine fiend” (my terminology) I get pains and spasms in my calves and quads for a day or so afterwards.
I have no explanation to #2.
I get this too - it’s called blepharospasm, and is supremely annoying. Apparently the contributing factors are sleep deprivation, caffeine, and stress, all of which often go hand in hand, unfortunately. I’ve never heard of the same thing happening in another muscle, but as you say maybe it’s possible.