Cause for Alarm?
The night before their big AFC Championship game the sleeping Steelers awoke to quite the surprise at 3:40 am this morning when a Patriots fan, Dennis Harrison, gave them the Boston welcome and pulled the fire alarm in their hotel . Dennis wasn’t a guest and there wasn’t a fire, but, that evening there WAS a huge game against the Patriots, and Dennis, well… he was a Patriots fan. Can a get a classic? Whether it was spygate, deflategate, or any other time the Patriots were accused of cheating, they just always seem to play a dirty game. We have to start wondering if these claims have validity, however, in this article I’m not going to get into whether Dennis was paid by someone from the Patriots or not. Rather, I’m going to be discussing the importance that a good night’s sleep has on athletic performance.
It has become common knowledge that when it comes to athletic performance you need good nutrition, hydration, and physical conditioning, but many overlook the equally important value of sleep. Here are a couple of the ways sleep is crucial for athletes:
Boost in your Coordination- The same way sleep can help you consolidate your intellectual memories from a day of school or work, when you get a good night’s rest your muscle memory is boosted. Sleep is very important for recall linked to body movement and your coordination. Getting those zzz’s may be just as important as the actual training for that perfect route you ran.
Quicker Reaction Times and Less Injury Rates- In a game of inches and seconds athletes can’t spare a second of their time and not getting enough shut-eye is known to reduce reaction times by a lot. Some studies have even shown that being very tired can slow your reaction time as much as if you were legally drunk. When it comes to injury rates- fatigue affects reaction time, so a tired athlete is slower to react to a potential hit and this can lead to more injuries. Second, with no sleep our immune system just doesn’t work as well and there is a higher chance of getting sick. Finally, without enough sleep our cells don’t regenerate and repair after a long day of practice.
Fewer Mental Mistakes- Motivation, memory, focus, and learning are all hindered by not enough sleep. So, your judgement in game-time decisions is impaired and the choice you make without enough sleep might not be the one you would make in a well-rested state. With enough sleep though, you will be more alert, less agitated, and more calm to make the right call in the big game.
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger- Studies have shown that with a good night’s of rest athletes have been shown to train harder, run faster, and preform better.
The Steelers and Patriots are playing at 6:40 PM (EST) tonight and I’m guessing with the 3:40 am alarm that went off this morning they didn’t get much sleep, so if the Steelers seem a little groggy against the Pats at least we have Dennis Harrison to thank.
