Student Athletes vs. Sleep
Wow I am fucking tired. Ironically cause I am about to tell you all how being a student athlete is mentally and physically exhausting.
So basically we wake up everyday and workout till we can barely walk, and then are forced to go to school. Well maybe being forced is a bit dramatic, but when you are running off a lack of sleep, your emotions tend to be heightened sometimes.
I love volleyball but the lack of sleep is really starting to get to me. Lack of sleep can cause depression, anxiety, and an increase of stress.
Not that our busy schedules don’t stress us out enough, add lack of sleep and trying to pay attention in class, now talk about stressful.
Going to class while being tired from practice/weights, is honestly so beyond difficult, cause as a student you want to do well you just physically cant keep your eyes open anymore. It eventually gets to the point where taking notes while sleeping, becomes normal.
This happened to my teammate recently, and I laughed so hard when she sent me the photo of her notes, because they start out so neat and perfect and then as you go farther down the page it basically looks like someone scribbled all over it.
Okay I digressed a bit. Back on track, a lack of sleep for collegiate athletes is common. Balancing a social life, schoolwork, and your prospective sport is not easy. I have gone nights without a full rest of sleep, and it suuuckkkssss!
Below are a few facts about sleep that I have directly quoted from WebMD because quit frankly I am way too tired to properly reword all of these. J
1. Sleepiness causes accidents (whether in jobs or car crashes)
· Ex. 1986 nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl was caused by lack of sleep
2. Sleep loss dumbs you down
· It impairs attention, alertness, concentration, reasoning, and problem solving
3. Sleep deprivation can lead to serious health problems
· Heart disease
· Heart attack
· Heart failure
· Irregular heartbeat
· High blood pressure
· Stroke diabetes
4. Lack of sleep kills sex drive
5. Sleepiness is Depressing
· People who were diagnosed with depression or anxiety were more likely to sleep less than six hours at night à (wow I honestly sleep 6 hours a night practically every night, no wondering I have such bad anxiety)
6. Lack of sleep ages your skin
7. Sleepiness makes you forgetful
8. Losing sleep can make you gain weight
9. Lack of sleep may increase risk of death
10. Sleep loss impairs judgment
Being an athlete we need sleep to help our bodies recover. However being a student-athlete, sleep is not so much of a right as it is a privilege. My body is constantly sore, and I know many other athletes feel the same.
I would love to be able to get enough sleep where I could wake up and my body would feel amazing. I dream of waking up fully rested. Currently for me, after sleeping 12 hours on an off day, I still wake up feeling like I need to sleep for another 24.
Being a student-athlete is extremely draining. Mentally and physically, I am worn out at the end of every week, I practically crawl into my bed after class on Friday and proceed to sleep myself into a coma.
I love being a student athlete, and I am beyond grateful to be able to play in a top collegiate volleyball program, I just wish sometimes we could get some more time to sleep and enjoy our lives.
Well I basically just took this time, to rant through my writing a little, as well as inform you all a bit more on what life is like as a student athlete.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and tune in for next weeks post, where I will be talking about how many people don’t necessarily agree with giving student-athletes full ride scholarships.
