Athlete Sleep

Elite athletes require intense focus on their sport, diet, and training. However, athlete sleep appears to be a foundational component of performance that is often overlooked. According to a study conducted in 2015, 55% of elite athletes demonstrated poor sleep quality and quantity. Given the physical, mental, and emotional stressors required of performing at the top of their ability, research suggests that athletes could stand to gain enormous benefits from education and practice of healthier sleep routines. With demands from coaches, training, team meetings, keeping up with friends and family, and general life stressors, sleep for athletes tends to suffer the consequences of dropping down the list of priorities. However, with a closer examination of the effects of such habits, perhaps athletes should start to protect the value of quality sleep.

Hormone Regulation:

Various studies (Van Cauter et al. (1997), Meier-Ewert et al. (2004), Leprolout & Van Cauter (2011), Schmid et al. (2008)) have shown that sleep loss affects hormonal balance in athletes, specifically growth hormones, cortisol, testosterone, leptin, and ghrelin. First, muscle repair, rehabilitation, and growth all require growth hormones. Second, cortisol is a stress hormone associated with poor performance and recovery. Third, testosterone is a hormone that promotes muscle development, strength, and performance. Finally, Leptin and Ghrelin are hormones that control energy and appetite. These hormones are mostly secreted and controlled during sleep.

Enhanced Endurance:

Several studies have demonstrated that improving athlete sleep length and quality can improve endurance and performance. For example, one study indicated that increasing sleep duration to 10 hours per night for six to seven weeks resulted in quicker swim times and improved turn times in swimmers.

Decreased Fatigue and Improved Recovery:

In endurance athletes, adequate sleep is critical for lowering tiredness and facilitating healthy recovery. Sleep deprivation or poor sleep quality can raise fatigue sensations, diminish cognitive function, and hinder muscle repair. According to a study done by Chapman and Karlsen (2018), extending sleep time or boosting sleep quality can help reduce these effects and improve recovery processes.

Improved Aerobic Capacity:

Adequate sleep has been linked to increased aerobic capacity, which is an important aspect in endurance performance. Namely, sleep extension therapies, in which athletes prolong their sleep duration, have been identified in studies to improve measures of aerobic performance such as VO2max and time to fatigue. 

Special Considerations for Sleep in Athletes

Athletes encounter obstacles that are distinct from those experienced by the general community. For example, travel, having to perform at different times of the day, and the demands of strenuous exercise can all have an affect on athlete sleep architecture. Fortunately, researchers have begun to seek out novel answers.

Sleep Duration

More sleep, or extended sleep, appears to assist athletes, their recovery, and their performance. Accordingly, athletes should consider sleeping between seven and nine hours per night. Elite athletes are advised to get at least nine hours of sleep per night.

Chronotypes

According to research, athletes tend to be morning chronotypes, meaning they wake up earlier and work better in the morning than evening chronotypes, who thrive in the afternoon and evening. Consequently, morning chronotypes prefer early exercise, whilst evening chronotypes prefer later training sessions. Regardless of chronotype, athletes should consider both their natural peak training time and the impact it may have on sleep and recovery, i.e., not too early or too late.

Sleep Disruption

Recent evidence indicates that waking up early may be more detrimental than staying up late. In particular, a study on judo competitors found that athletes who deprived themselves of sleep by waking up too early had lower power and muscle strength the next day. Alternatively, the one study suggests that athletes who will knowingly have a poor night’s sleep can ‘bank’ sleep the night before by extending sleep times. In other words, if an athlete has a late competition, they may benefit from getting extra sleep the night beforehand. In sum, athletes must be conscious of their sleep cycles and seek to alter training and competition accordingly.

Travel and Jet Lag

Athletes who travel between time zones for events may endure jet lag and sleep disruption. Jet lag is associated with the resynchronization of the body clock to the new environment and resolves at a rate of about 1 day per time zone crossed. According to a study done in 2007 by Waterhouse et al., techniques such as altering athlete sleep schedules before travel, i.e., shifting sleep schedule in the direction of the new time zone prior to arrival, can be beneficial. Similarly, one study found adjusting mealtimes according to your destination time-zone can also minimize the effects of jetlag. Waterhouse et al. also suggest boosting exposure to sunshine and other sources of natural light can help athletes adapt to new time zones more efficiently and reduce the impact of jet lag.

Conclusion

Research suggests that more than half of all athletes suffer from poor sleep, which can negatively impact all aspects of sport performance. Despite the unique challenges that athletes face, evidence backed strategies are coming to light that can help athletes to overcome barriers for optimum performance. Studies done by O’Donnell and Driller (2017), Caia et al. (2018), and Fullagar et al. (2016) demonstrated how simple sleep education presentations ranging in duration from 30 to 60 minutes have been shown to increase sleep duration by an average of 20–90 minutes in athletes. With more targeted data and information, athletes could experience even greater gains. If you are an athlete struggling to optimize your sleep architecture, consider either checking our sleep therapy services or reach out directly today to learn more about how Neumo could help you maximize your sleep performance.

Are you curious how your sleep stacks up? Take this questionnaire, the Athlete Sleep Behavior Questionnaire developed by Driller, Mah, and Halson (2018), to get an idea of key indicators of sleep performance.

Athlete sleep test

References

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