It is well known that sleep is essential for quality living. Getting enough sleep ensures proper physical development and brain functioning.
There is also another activity that takes place in the body while we are sleeping.
And that is repair and recovery.
What does this mean for athletes?
Many studies have been conducted on the sleep & performance relationship across both individual and team sports.
The findings have all pointed out that a good sleep is necessary to recoup, re-energize and perform on the field. Lack of sleep led to faster tiredness, reduced cognitive abilities and irritability.
Another set of studies have focused on the duration and quality of sleep.
While an average adult needs anywhere between 7-9 hours, for athletes, since they are involved in higher physical activity on most days, 9-10 hours of sleep is recommended.
When players were asked to increase their sleep duration,
They showed an improvement in speed, accuracy and reaction times.
Their risk of injury and falling ill have reduced.
All these are in addition to the other benefits of sleep like memory consolidation (a new skill or technique learnt is committed to the permanent memory), cell and tissue damage repair and restoration, healthy heart and overall, a better physical and mental well-being we already know of.
Though it is easy to say that sportspersons need more sleep, it is not that easy to stick to them for the reasons such as:
Rigorous training schedules, especially morning sessions for which they have to wake up early.
Travelling to different places and time zones for tournaments.
Stress and anxiety of an upcoming game or event.
How to ensure athletes get a good sleep?
Professional trainers around the world have also repeatedly stated that athletes must take care of three things everyday which are training, diet and sleep.
Here are four main aspects which, if managed well, lead to a much needed quality sleep that has both performance and health benefits.
Training
There is no doubt that training is a must. But the time-table should be designed such that,
There is no or minimum variation in everyday timings and
Late night training should be avoided because exercising close to bedtime makes the body active and difficult to fall asleep.
Travel
There should be enough time to overcome travel tiredness and if the move is to a different time zone, to adjust the internal body clock and processes.
Small adjustments to sleeping and wake up times according to the destination time can also be started a few days before the trip.
Stress
It is helpful to be armed with techniques to overcome the stress and anxiety and relax the body and mind to easily enter the sleep state.
Having a bedtime routine like reading a book, listening to music or meditation will also signal the body that bedtime is approaching.
Bed
A comfortable bed is a must have for a sound sleep.
Foam mattresses, especially the memory foam mattresses, are known to relieve strain from pressure points and sensitive areas.
This is a boon for athletes who take a lot of physical strain each day to come back to a bed that “remembers” their body shape and adjusts itself to provide the best comfort and sleep.
Hypnos has an exclusive range of premium foam mattresses to choose from.
Hypnos’ Panorama mattress is specially meant for maximum support and plush comfort with its three foam layers. This is an ideal choice to recoup from the day’s activities and rejuvenate for the next day with a super sound sleep.
See its complete specifications and colour variants here
