Over 21 per cent of participants in the Heidelberg research used their lucid dream to practice a skill such as a sport
It seems like the ultimate lazy girl's fantasy - or the plot of a science fiction movie.
But new research has revealed sporting performance can be improved while we sleep.
It comes down to lucid dreaming - essentially the sort of dream you have while fast asleep but in which you aware you are dreaming and can thus control your dream world.
Studies have for some time noted a link between lucid dreaming during REM sleep and improved athletic performance, but had never isolated the reason why.
Now research by Heidelberg University and published in the Guardian's running blog shows that the improvement stems from the fact that your mind believes you are practising the sport for real.
Sportsmen and women who have engaged in training while they sleep have described enhanced performance after practising such things as a complex move, a tricky shot in basketball or a free kick in football over and over again.
Others have controlled their dreams to make themselves run faster, or for longer without tiring, or simply told themselves they can move past feelings of exhaustion to carry on running.
One ballerina in the study describes struggling with a complicated move for some time before 'sleep practising' it - and found she could then perform it in real life too.
Lucid dreaming: What is happening inside the brain?
Though scientists are not yet certain of what brain activity is behind lucid dreaming, research by Muzur, Pace-Schott and Hobson has suggested that activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, usually deactivated during REM (Rapid Eye Moment sleep) may be responsible for us regaining self-awareness while still asleep.
The amygdala and parahippocampal cortex is less intensely activated than normal to allow us to maintain self-awareness and yet remain asleep.
Previous research has proved that lucid dreamers are indeed asleep, but are aware that they are in a dream.
Dreamers have been able to signal to researchers from within their dream using pre-agreed eye movements.
In the 1980s German psychologist Paul Tholey was the first to note the link between lucid dreaming and improved performance, and in 2010 psychologists Erlacher and Schredl showed that practising a coin tossing task in lucid dreams led to an improved objective performance.
It all sounds too good to be true. But becoming an accomplished lucid dreamer is not necessarily easy.
If you do not naturally lucid dream it is possible to train yourself to do so.
The first step is to be able to recognise that you are in a dream once asleep, which some people attempt to do by performing ‘reality checks’ in a dream.
However it takes considerable training to be able to perform these within a dream.
Once aware you are dreaming, the dreamer must be cautious to let the dream continue but be conscious enough to remember that it is a dream.
Most people can train themselves to lucid dream, and the possible uses for being aware and in control of your dream world are endless
However the benefits once mastered are said to be incredible with people not only being able to change nightmares into positive dreams and problem solve while asleep, but also report having immense fun.
Being able to control the dream world means people report enjoying anything from flying to making a cake as large as a house, indulging in sexual fantasies and curing nightmares.
ENTERING THE MATRIX: HOW TO LUCID DREAM (AND HOW TO TAKE CONTROL)
Note down your target dream. What do you want to dream about? Who will you be and what will you be doing?
What is your goal in the dream?
Meditate on the narrative before you go to sleep.
Imagine the scenes you will appear in and what you will do.
Draw pictures, use visualisation. Focus on the detail - don't be too general. Make your fantasy specific.
Avoid television or books before bed or those stories and images may take over your own narrative.
Recognise that you are in a dream once asleep. Some people attempt this by performing ‘reality checks’ in a dream.
Ask yourself regularly during the day - 'am I dreaming? Am I awake?'. Once habitual, this thought process can be carried over into your dream world,
Once aware you are dreaming, be cautious to let the dream continue but be conscious enough to remember that it is a dream.
Think about your dreams when you wake up - this will help you remember them and allow them to have more effect.
Learn more at Lucidity.com
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2381864/Could-sleep-workouts-make-run-faster-Just-DREAMING-training-make-perform-better-experts-say.html#ixzz2ajtux0rG
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
