Sleep and AthletesWhat is already known about the effects of sleep is that it results in better mood, more alertness and a general feeling of well being. Sleep deprivation, on the other hand, can result in irritability, fatigue, lack of concentration, and anxiety, while both metal and physical abilities deteriorate. Until recent years, not much was known about sleep and its affect on athletes. Current research shows that if an athlete gets more sleep than in their normal sleep-wake cycle, they perform better. Depending on the sport, the athlete is faster, more accurate, and has a quicker reaction time. Cheri Mah, M.S. of the Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic and Research Laboratory is a leader in the study of enhanced sleep and athletic performance. She has conducted sleep studies on athletes of various sports at Stanford University. In one such study, she tested five healthy students on the swim team, both male and female. She began the testing with each athlete sleeping their normal pattern for two weeks, and then tested them after increasing their sleep to 10 hours a day for six to seven weeks. After six to seven weeks of extended sleep, the performance of every athlete was reassessed and notable improvements were shown. Not only did the swimmers turn in faster swim times, but their reaction times and turn times in the water improved. Their kick stroke count increased as well. Mah also reported that some of the athletes tested during this study turned in personal best records and season best times.1 In another sleep study conducted by Mah, seven healthy football players from 18 to 22 years old were tested. The athletes played various positions on the team. She used the same procedure for the football players as she did the swimmers, having them sleep their normal routine for two weeks, and recorded their sprinting times. After two weeks they attempted to increase their sleep up to 10 hours per day, for seven to eight weeks. Mah had the participants keep sleep journals, and tracked their sleep/wake activity with the use of actigraphy, which uses a small-watch sized device worn on the arm. Mah used the Epworth Sleepiness Scale to measure how tired the players were at given times during the day. She also used POMS (Profile of Mood States) weekly to monitor the athlete’s mood. POMS is frequently used to benchmark physiological stress.2 As with the swimmers, Mah noted increased performance for the football players. Their sprint times increased as well as their vigor scores. In addition to the swimming and football athletes Mah has studied, she has also studied athletes from other sports such as: basketball, track and field, tennis, golf, and cross country. Although the evidence that . Mah accumulated seems to prove that more sleep results in improved physical performance, there are some that believe more study is needed. The president of the American Society of Exercise Physiologists, Frank Wyatt, believes that Mah’s studies are too small to be conclusive. Wyatt does acknowledge that natural hormones released while a person sleeps, “…enhance your mood and facilitate tissue repair, respectively.”4 Other researchers have conjectured that long, heavy sleep impacts athletic performance due to the fact that growth hormones are released while a person is sleeping. This allows the body to repair damage to muscles, build bone, and encourages muscle tissue growth. In 1994, the National Institute of Mental Health did a study in which people were put into a dark room to sleep for up to 14 hours a night for 28 days. The idea behind the study was to see if people who were lacking sleep could catch up on sleep and what would happen if they did. The study showed if a person caught up on sleep, that after the third week, the body would regulate itself to sleep the same amount every night. According to the study, “Athletes who obtain all the sleep they need might have a ‘secret’ advantage over their competition.”5 The theory is that even professional athletes are not always performing at their best. Different situations can influence why an athlete may have sleep interrupted or shortened, such as needing to fly to another city for competition, resulting in jet lag or time difference, an injury which can interrupt normal sleep patterns, or any type of emotional stress that he or she may be going through. The evidence for getting enough sleep for a person to function properly is abundant, and few would dispute the validity of such information. The recent studies on athletes and how they perform based on a typical sleep pattern versus an enhanced sleep pattern has brought to light the importance of not only every day functions, but the ability to perform on the field, court, or in the pool. While more research from a larger selection of athletes is warranted, the current information is enlightening. As more studies are conducted, athletes can look forward to enhancing their performance to an even higher level. Journal abstract: High exercise levels are related to favorable sleep patterns and psychological functioning in adolescents: a comparison of athletes and controls. Does exercise make you sleep better? There is evidence that growth hormone (GH)-releasing hormone stimulates NREM sleep. Cortisol seems to promote REM sleep. 1 – American Academy of Sleep Medicine (2008, June 10). Extra Sleep
Improves 2 – American Academy of Sleep Medicine (2010, June 9). Getting extra
sleep improves 3 – American Academy of Sleep Medicine (2008, June 4). Ongoing Study
Continues to 4 – USA Today (2009, July 13). Extended sleep may give athletes a
boost. Retrieved 5 – Psychiatric News (2005, August 19). Sleep May Be Athletes’ Best
Performance
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"O Sleep, rest of all things, mildest of the gods, balm of the soul..." (Iris to Hypnos. Ovid, Metamorphoses) |