Athletes and sleep

Brooke DeBerdine, Women’s Field Hockey

“I just woke up from a nap from [Loftie], I’m loving it. Really enjoy the meditations and sounds programmed in.” 

Take a clue from some of the fastest cats around

Usain Bolt has been known to take naps before breaking world records and winning Olympic gold medals. The cheetah also spends much of its day sleeping. Coincidence?

The sports world is beginning to embrace the performance-enhancing benefits of sleep

Studies have shown that athletes with good sleeping habits make fewer mistakes, have faster reaction times, demonstrate improved accuracy, show better decision-making, and suffer fewer injuries.

Extra sleep allows the body the recovery period it needs to achieve peak performance the next day.

Practice (plus sleep) makes perfect

Remember that time you were trying to learn a new song/skateboard trick/gymnastic flip and you kept blowing it and you just knew you’d never get it? Then you went to sleep.

And remember how you got it perfectly the next day?

That’s because Non-REM sleep consolidates the day’s information and improves your brain’s capacity to learn new things.

Red is the best light color for sleep

A small study in 2012 examined the effects of red light therapy on elite female athletes. Researchers found that 30 minutes of red light exposure significantly improved sleep quality and melatonin levels after 14 days compared to those who were not exposed to any light. Participants who received red light exposure also saw an increase in their endurance performance.