Sleep Recommendations for the Athlete Sleep is one of the more under-acknowledged parts of the recovery equation. Any athlete looking to perform at his or her best should strive for consistent and quality sleep on a nightly basis. Failing to do so has been shown to impair glucose metabolism, appetite regulation, immune function, cognitive performance, and mood – as noted by Halson, (2014). If you are serious about your performance, it would be a wise idea to maximize sleep quality and quantity. Here are our recommendations for general offseason and pre-competition sleep objectives. Offseason Sleep Patterns Why would we recommend two different sleep patterns for pre-competition and offseason phases of the athlete schedule? Part of coaching is keeping your athletes interested and motivated. Although some athletes may respond well to being instructed to spend a minimum of 10 hours in bed per night, many won’t. When the recovery demands of training are less extensive, we feel that its safe and reasonable to dial back on recommendations that may only provide a small difference in performance. Aiming for 56-70 hours of total sleep in a 7-day span is viewed as a solid hypothetical starting range for athletic recovery (Mah, 2011; Samuels, 2013). In conjunction with the recommendations of CS4L, we suggest that obtaining a minimum of 56 hours of sleep per week, and 8 hours per night should be viewed as a reasonable minimum for hard-training athletes. Pre-Competition Sleep Patterns During the pre-competition or transmutation phase, training intensity often increases to levels reached rarely during offseason training. (Issurin, 2010) With the rise in training intensity, and increase in concentration as well as athlete nerves – we surmise that it would be wise to increase sleep requirements as well. A study conducted over the course of two NCAA seasons asked players of the Stanford Men’s Basketball Team to obtain a minimum of 10 hours in bed per night. Athletic Performance and Psychomotor Vigilance were measured daily throughout the study – while mood was measured before, and at the conclusion of the study. At the conclusion of the study, researchers found that players demonstrated faster 282 ft sprint times (16.2 seconds vs to 15.5 seconds), Free Throw accuracy went up from 7.9/10 to 8.8/10; and athletes reported improved feelings of well-being, alertness, and mood. Next time you are in a heavy phase of training or a competitive season, make sure you get your sleep! Athletes undertaking in heavy training may require up to 10 hours of sleep per night. (Calder, 2003) - Coach Jason
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 13:00:00 +0000
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