Sleep
For athletes, sleep is as important for athletic performance as physical exercise and proper nutrition. Picture Credit: Julia Yellow
"The best recovery that you can possibly get is when you're sleeping."
- Lebron James
Why do I need sleep?
Sleep is one of the most effective recovery strategies available to athletes.1 Sleep is like putting bread dough in the oven. After mixing, kneading, and letting the dough rise, it is only dough until it bakes in the oven. Sleep is a necessary, finishing touch that makes all of your hard work count. Here is why:
- The body repairs itself during sleep. One notable hormone related to athletic recovery is growth hormone. Growth hormone plays an essential role in muscle growth, muscle repair, and bone building. 95% of this growth hormone is released in the body during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. This means that sleep is the time when the body repairs and restores itself after working hard in the gym.1
- Sleep improves your memory and helps your body learn new motor patterns. The rapid eye movement (REM) sleep stage plays an important role in cognitive function. REM sleep is associated with memory permanence and learning motor skills. The amount and quality of sleep the night after a memory task have been positively correlated to the extent of recall and retention the next day.1 In other words, sleep helps the brain learn new plays and the muscles learn new movement patterns, and solidify adjustments to form after a hard day of practice.
- Sleep deprivation directly hinders athletic performance. Research shows that post-sleep deprivation, athletes showed significantly slower reaction times than their baseline. In another study, sleep-deprived athletes demonstrated decreased alertness and accuracy in a dart-throwing exercise. The serving accuracy of tennis players was impaired after sleep restriction. Reduced isometric force (force against resistance) and impaired selective attention (ability to filter out crowd noises and other distractions during competition) were also noted in sleep-deprived karate athletes.1 Over and over, research shows that sleep-deprived athletes are weaker, slower, less accurate, and less focused than athletes with adequate sleep.
How much sleep do I need?
Adults need about 7-9 hours per night, though training athletes need about 1 hour more. The rule of thumb is 8-10 hours per night. Remember that more is not always better. Moderation and consistency are key in all aspects of life, and sleep is no exception.
How can I get better sleep?
*Adapted from https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-hygiene
Here are some things to try on your own to get better sleep. It may take some experimenting to find a sleep hygiene routine that works best for you.
- Make a sleep schedule. Find a sleep schedule that works with your daily routine, and stick with it.
- Set a fixed wake-up time. Don't wake up at 5 am Monday – Friday, then sleep until noon on Saturday. This disrupts your circadian rhythm, or internal biological clock, and makes it more difficult to get consistent, high-quality sleep.
- Prioritize Sleep. As an elite athlete, skimping on sleep is just not an option. It might be tempting to skip sleep to socialize, pull an all-nighter studying, or binge-watch a favorite TV show. Making sleep your priority can help you battle these temptations. Pro tip: set an alarm on your phone to remind you to go to bed on time.
- Make gradual adjustments to get into a healthy sleep routine. If you currently sleep 4 hours per night, don't try to suddenly sleep 10 hours per night. Successful change happens a little bit at a time. Start with adding one hour per night and move on from there. Pro tip: If you're trying to increase your sleep at night, don't overdo it with naps late in the afternoon.
- Follow an evening routine. Find a personalized way to "wind down" at night and keep it consistent each day. These routines will help cue your brain that it's time to sleep.
- Budget about 30 minutes to wind down: some ideas include putting on pajamas, brushing teeth, reading, light stretching, listening to calming music, relaxation exercises, rubbing your feet with coconut oil, coloring books, hot tea, journaling. If you only have 10 minutes available in the evening, then wind down for 10 minutes! Just keep it as consistent as possible.
- Dim the lights. Try to stay away from bright lights before bed to allow your body to release melatonin, an important sleep hormone. Pro-tip: put a night-light in the bathroom so if you wake up to use the restroom at night, you can avoid a retina-singeing blast of the midnight sun and stay in "sleepy" mode while you do your business. This will help you get back to sleep.
- Put away your electronics. This can be a really tough one, but it is important to have a 30-60 - minute period of device-free time before bed. Viewing content on news apps, social media, and e-mails is stimulating for the brain. This makes it harder to relax the brain in preparation for a night of good-quality sleep. Additionally, blue light from the laptop/TV/phone screen disrupts the circadian rhythm, tricking the mind into thinking it's the middle of the day. Pro tip: make a charging station across the room from your bed so you can still hear your alarm in the morning but take away the temptation to scroll Instagram in the evening.
- Your bed is for sleeping. Reserve your bed exclusively for sleeping and sex. Training your brain to connect the dots between "bed" and "sleeping" can help reduce the time it takes to fall asleep and improve your quality of sleep. For this reason, do not eat, do homework, play games, scroll on social media, paint landscapes, or watch TV in your bed. Pro tip: Invest in a comfy chair for your room so you can stay out of your bed during the day, but still own a private space to hang out.
- Don't toss and turn. Again, your bed is for sleeping. If you find yourself tossing and turning for about 20 sleepless minutes, get back up and do something calming in low light until you're tired. Remember: stay off your phone. Pro-tip: find the most boring textbook you have and read it until your eyes just can't stay open any longer.
- Adopt healthy habits during the day.
- Get out in the sun. Sunlight is a key driver of the circadian rhythm and getting out in the sun helps your body figure out when it should go to sleep (preferably, at night)
- Be physically active. This shouldn't be a problem for athletes, but it's important to remember that even on a day off, getting outside for a walk can make it easier to sleep at night.
- Don't smoke cigarettes, vape, or chew. Nicotine is a stimulant, so it can speed you up and disrupt sleep. Research has linked smoking to numerous sleeping problems.
- Reduce alcohol consumption. If you want a good night's sleep, don't drink. Alcohol can make it easier to fall asleep at night, but it disrupts sleep cycles later in the night, reducing the quality of your sleep. If you want to enjoy a drink or two in the evening, try to avoid it right before bed.
- Save caffeine for the morning. Caffeine's half-life is about 5 hours (meaning that half of the drug still remains in the body after 5 hours of consumption), depending on the person's weight and sensitivity to the drug. For this reason, drink your coffee in the morning and avoid caffeine after lunch. Please remember that caffeine can be found in things other than coffee: Midol, chocolate, energy drinks, certain CLIF bar flavors, pre-workout, iced tea, soft drinks, and green tea are just a few.
- Don't eat dinner too late. If you eat a big, heavy, or spicy meal right before bed, your body will still be digesting it when you're trying to fall asleep. Try to eat dinner a couple of hours before bed, and keep your bedtime snacks light.
How do I know if I have a sleep disorder?
- Key Sleep Disorders: https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_sleep/key_disorders.html
- Take an online sleep screening HERE
References
1. O'donnell, S., Beaven, C. M., & Driller, M. W. (2018). From pillow to podium: A review on understanding sleep for elite athletes. Nature and Science of Sleep, 10, 243-253. doi:10.2147/NSS.S158598Developed 2021 by Quinn DeStefano, OTD Student
Reviewed 2021 by Aaron Grusonik, MA, Psy.D
