Sleep and Your Athletic Performance

In the past, sleep has had a negative connotation in the peak performance community. I am sure you have heard someone say, “I will sleep when I am dead”. Often, people equate sleep with being lazy and they argue that you can spend your time doing something more productive rather than just sleeping. Sleep is absolutely essential to your performance as an athlete. If you want to be the best athlete you can be then you must take sleep just as seriously as your training.

Studies have shown that, on average, athletes tend to get less sleep quality and quantity compared to non-athletes.1 To compound this problem, athletes typically need more sleep than non-athletes due to their intense exercise regimens.¹ Here are some of the effects of poor sleep.¹

• Impaired brain function leading to poor decision making
• Increase in inflammation leading to slower muscle recovery and an impairment in the immune system
• Decreased running performance
• Decreased maximal strength
• Reduced sprint times and distance covered
• Quicker time to exhaustion

On the flip side, here are some performance benefits when athletes get proper sleep.1

• Improved sprint times
• Improved reaction times, alertness and mood
• Improved sport specific skills like tennis serve accuracy or basketball shooting accuracy just to name a few
• Lengthens the time it takes to reach exhaustion

Here are some strategies you can implement immediately to help improve your sleep and elevate your athletic performance.^1,2

• Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on the weekend
• Keep your room quiet, dark, and cold (Between 60-70 degrees fahrenheit)
• Avoid blue light emitted from screens at least 2 hour prior to bed (Blue light blocking glasses or night modes on computers and phones can help with this)
• View sunlight within 30-60 minutes of waking
• Use the bed for sleep only; do not watch TV, play video games, or play on your phone or computer while in bed
• If you drink caffeine, avoid having it after 12pm
• If you take naps, try and limit them to one hour or less and try to avoid taking any after 3pm
• Avoid alcohol and nicotine use
• Try and avoid high-intensity exercise right before bed as this can raise your cortisol levels and impair sleep

¹ Vitale KC, Owens R, Hopkins SR, Malhotra A. Sleep Hygiene for Optimizing Recovery in Athletes: Review and Recommendations. Int J Sports Med. 2019;40(8):535-543. doi:10.1055/a-0905-3103
² Toolkit for sleep. Huberman Lab. https://hubermanlab.com/toolkit-for-sleep/. Published March 14, 2022. Accessed May 2, 2022.

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