WPH Wednesday Workout: The Importance of Sleep for Athletes
WPH Press
We’ve all heard the expression – you need your eight hours. Athletes need their eight hours and several more. LeBron James, Usian Bolt, and Roger Federer sleep 10 to 12 hours per night. Sleep is as important for an athlete than the diet, cross training, practicing and rest, maybe even more important.
Why Do Athletes Need Sleep
- Morgan Griffin from WebMDHERErefers to orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist Dr. David Geier MD, who stated, “Getting enough sleep is crucial to athletic performance. Just as athletes need more calories than most people when they’re training, they need more sleep too. You’re pushing your body in practice, so you need more time to recover. Not getting enough sleep doesn’t only make you tired the next day, it has a big impact on what is happening inside your body.”
In a study of the Stanford University basketball team over the course of several months, the players who added two hours of sleep per night increased their speed by 5%, their free throw percentage by 9%, and had faster reflexes and felt happier.
Benefits of Sleep
Readi by Fatigue Science HERE states that sleep plays a crucial role in athletic performance by improving reaction times, motor function, motivation, focus, stress regulation, muscle recovery, sprint performance, muscle glycogen, glucose metabolism, memory and learning, injury risk, illness prevention, and unwanted weight gain. Readi unequivocally believes that quality and quantity of sleep can be the difference between winning and losing on game-day.
A sleep study of Major League Baseball players, conducted by W. Christopher Winter, MD revealed a linear relationship between the amount of quality sleep and the length of MLB player’s career – the more quality sleep a MLB player received, the longer his career. Dr. Winter believes that regular sleep patterns create a competitive edge for athletes – those athletes that can adapt to rigorous travel schedules, early training times, and late-night departure times gain a significant advantage over those athletes who do not develop regular sleep patterns.
Sleep.org, created by the National Sleep Foundation HERE states that the body repairs itself during restful sleep, which is critically important for athletes who place tremendous demand on their muscles and tissues. Sleep.org concurs with Readi in that restful sleep makes athletes faster, while also increasing intensity, strengthens mental fortitude, and boosts coordination.
How to Improve Your Sleep Patterns
THORNE Take 5 Daily HERE believes the food an athlete eats before bed plays a significant role in the ability to gain restful and quality sleep. THORNE cites eating protein, drinking warm milk, eating tart cherries, and eating nuts and seeds will provide more sustainable sleep patterns. THORNE also cites the use of computers, smart phones, tablets and any screens as interfering with restful sleep.
- Morgan Griffin from WebMD HERE states that athletes should avoid sleep medication and should rely on natural relaxation techniques such as deep breathing before bed and that athletes should also avoid alcohol and caffeine, both of which disrupt sleep.
Feel better, play better, and recover faster – sleep!
David Fink
WPH Fitness Director