The Importance of Sleep for Youth Athletes

Luke Williams, CSCS, USAW

We all know sleep is important for our body to function. But how does sleep affect athletes in terms of their performance?

Getting adequate sleep, which is approximately 6-8hrs per night depending on each individual, has been shown by loads of research to be an integral factor in increased performance and decreased injury rates. One study (Rosen et al. 2017) took 340 young athletes (ages 16-18) and showed that when a minimum of 8 hours of sleep was obtained, injury risk in those athletes was reduced by 61%! Another study showed increases in sprint performance in a multi-game weekend with athletes who obtained 8hrs of sleep each night during the competition. (ECSS 2017)

Sleep is the number one way that your body can recover. When you sleep, your muscles are able to repair themselves from the trauma they went through while you were training or competing. If you don’t get enough sleep after one of those events, your muscles aren’t able to repair themselves to get you ready to perform at your optimal level.

Your brain is also able to “clean itself” while you sleep. Sleep allows your brain to reset and refresh from all the previous days mental stress. Every organ in your body is affected by sleep. The less sleep you get the more stress it puts on your body because it can’t function like it’s supposed to.

But how do I get enough sleep with all that I have going on?? We all know that you get busy with work, school, games, practices, and just life in general, which makes it difficult to always get a good night’s sleep. That’s where naps come in to play. You may have heard the term “Power Nap”, and that’s a great way to get more sleep. Short naps have been shown to improve alertness and can make up for lack of sleep during the night. A study done in the European journal of Sport Science showed that a short afternoon nap improved performance in endurance runners who weren’t able to get enough sleep the night before. The control group, those who didn’t get enough sleep and didn’t nap, had a significant drop in performance.

15-30min is the recommended time to nap and you should feel alert and rested about 15min after you wake up.

Here are a couple tips that will help you improve your sleep:

· Try and go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. This will help with your body’s sleep rhythm and create good habits.

· No electronics 60-90min before bedtime. If you need to use electronics (phone, ipad, computer) before bed, it’s recommended to invest in some blue light blocking glasses.

· Make sure your room is dark. Try not to have any artificial light on while you sleep.

· Turn down the thermostat. Studies show the optimal sleep temperature is about 68 degrees.

Here are a few tips for helping you wake up better:

· Drink 8oz of cold water right when you wake up. Your body gets dehydrated as you sleep, so drinking water first will help wake you up, kick-start your metabolism, and start the process of re-hydrating your body. (Squeeze a lemon into your water for even more added health benefits!)

· Don’t hit the snooze button! Doing that just makes you more “groggy” as the sleep your getting after your alarm goes off isn’t good quality sleep.

· Try and get direct sunlight when you wake up. Direct sunlight helps stimulate the hormones in your body that help you wake up and suppresses the hormones the make you sleepy, like melatonin.

Young athletes are always looking for ways to get an edge on their competitors or get the most out of their ability. Sleep is such a simple yet profound way you as an athlete can improve your performance and reduce your chances of injury.

For questions or more information on this topic or any of our Athletic Development Programs, don’t hesitate to reach out to us!