Sleeping for Performance

If you told an athlete you had a treatment that would reduce the chemicals associated with stress, that would naturally increase human growth hormone, that enhances recovery rate, that improves performance, they would all do it. Sleep does all of those things.

Casey Smith, Head Athletic Trainer, Dallas Mavericks

While sleep is a crucial component to the health and wellness of everyone on Earth, for athletes it is incredibly important for performance and success. The link from sleep to performance is about both the quality and quantity of sleep. When athletes are adequately rested, they will reap the benefits of better stress regulation, decreased risk of injury/illness, improved reaction times, motor functions, focus, muscle recovery, increased memory/learning and more.

INJURY

In a study on middle and high school athletes, Milewski et al. found that individuals who slept less than 8 hours a night were 70% more likely to report an injury than those who slept more than 8 hours a night. Another study of 496 athletes ranging from 16 different sports, both individual and team, found that increased work loads from training paired with deprivations in sleep greatly increased the risk of injury. This type of increased load and decrease in sleep is often times felt among travel and club athletes.

The connection between less sleep and injury is thought to be due to the impairments in reaction time and cognitive function leading to an acute injury. A study done by the University of Texas, compared reaction times and quick decisions of West Point cadets. Two groups performed the same tasks twice, separated by 24 hours in which the groups either were well rested or sleep deprived. The group that was sleep deprived saw a decrease in performance of 2.1% while the well rested group saw an increase in performance of 4.3%. While a 2.1% drop in performance does not seem like much, from a reaction standpoint it could greatly affect decision making which could lead to false steps and acute injuries. This also highlights the fact that not only can lack of sleep hurt performance, but an increase in sleep can actually lead to better decision making and reaction times from retention of memory.

RECOVERY

Sleep quality and quantity before and after training/competition is extremely important. Both sleep and exercise induce the release of human growth hormone (HGH), but it is estimated that as much as 75% of HGH is released during sleep. Hence the importance for athletes! Human growth hormone is an active component in the maturation and development of a growing adolescent as well as a major factor in the repair and restoration function of sleep. It is released during the first few cycles of stage 3 or deep sleep during the night. Lack of sleep will prohibit the body from reaching these deep sleep cycles and limit the amount of HGH released from the brain. This leads to decreases in tissue repair and further delays recovery. So not only can lack of sleep lead to injury, it can keep you injured longer. And we all know the best ability for an athlete is AVAILABILITY. Go to sleep and stay off the sideline.

While your muscle tissues are getting rebuilt and recovered, so is your brain. Researchers at Boston University in Massachusetts have found that during sleep, the fluid present in the brain and spinal chord — called the cerebrospinal fluid — washes in and out, like waves, helping the brain get rid of accumulated metabolic “trash.” This waste includes potentially toxic proteins that may otherwise form buildups that can impair the flow of information between neurons.

Basically your brain gets a great cleanup every night when you get into deep sleep that allows you to retain information more efficiently.

PERFORMANCE

Cheri Mah, a researcher at Stanford University, conducted a sleep study with the Stanford Men’s Basketball Team. After a baseline of sleep was reached for 4 weeks, the athletes completed a 7 week sleep extension. During this time the goal was to sleep 10 hours or as long as possible.

They recorded performance measures after every practice which included sprint time and shooting accuracy. Athletes ran faster in the timed sprint following the sleep extension, and shooting accuracy increased by 9% for field goals and 9.2% for 3-point field goals. This leads researchers to believe that optimal sleep is likely beneficial in reaching peak athletic performance.

For me, sleeping well could mean the difference between putting up 30 points and living with 15. — Steve Nash, NBA Hall of Fame

Sleep also has a major impact on memory and skill retention. Matthew Walker, author of Why We Sleep, states that “practice does not make perfect. It is practice, followed by a night of sleep, that leads to perfection.” So while you are putting in all of the extra hours at practice and skills camps to ‘perfect’ your craft. It is getting home and going to bed for plenty of quality sleep that will actually ingrain those skills in you.

WHAT TO DO

By now we know the importance of sleep and how it not only affects our health but our performance in competition as well. How much sleep? And how do we make it quality sleep?

1. 8–10 Hours of Sleep — Some studies suggest 7 hours could be efficient enough, but shoot for 8 hours.
2. Make it a Priority and Be Consistent — Create a sleep schedule that best fits your unique schedule and situation. If you need to be up by 6am every morning, then you need to be asleep no later than 10pm every evening. Be consistent in this schedule so that your body’s circadian rhythm follows along.
3. Lights Out — An hour before your designated bedtime, put down the phone and shut off all of the screens. Eliminate as much blue light as possible to allow yourself to wind down and your brain to release melatonin. This will require extra effort in getting your homework and studies completed, especially with certain extra-curricular schedules, but the sleep will have an added impact on both.
4. Cool it Down — If your parents will allow you to touch the thermostat, try getting the room temperature to 65–69 degrees. While you are laying in bed trying to snooze, your body temperature decreases to initiate sleep. This temperature range will help facilitate this response.
5. Naps — Do not rely on naps to achieve your 8–10 hours of sleep, but when needed, a nap can provide substantial increases in task performing and alertness. Matthew Walker, author of Why We Sleep, says that “naps as short as 26 minutes in length still offered a 34% improvement in task performance and more than a 50% increase in alertness.”

Evidence is becoming more and more clear that sleep can be make it or break it for athletes and their performance success. Good quality sleep of 8–10 hours consistently will have an athlete retaining more at practice, growing and recovering each night, and performing at a markedly higher level. It’s easy, it’s comfortable and it’s FREE. What more can you ask for? Put the phone down and go catch some Z’s.