February 2019 - 27

The role of sleep
By Lisa Limper & Scott Lee, contributing writers
Sleep is often the first thing players
and coaches sacrifice, but that turns
out to be a poor choice. In his 2011
article in Harvard Business Review,
" Sleep is More Important than Food, "
Tony Schwartz writes that even small
amounts of sleep deprivation take a
significant toll on our health. In fact,
Amnesty International lists sleep
deprivation as a form of torture.
People require sleep because of
its restorative functions. According
to Vancouver-based Fatigue Science,
a fatigue-related risk management
company, sleep plays a vital role in
most of our physiological functions.
Getting optimal sleep impacts such
diverse bodily functions as motivation,
focus, memory, judgement, muscle
recovery, athletic performance, illness
rates and body composition.
Athletes generally need seven-anda-half
to nine-and-a-half hours of
sleep each night, and this number can
vary depending on timing during the
season and training load. However, Dr.
Charles Samuels and Dr. Amy Bender
of the Centre of Sleep & Human
Performance in Calgary say that no
amount of sleep can compensate if an
athlete only gets poor quality sleep.
There are two main issues that
can impact sleep quality: Nonrestorative
sleep, and disturbed sleep
patterns. In non-restorative sleep,
the athlete feels as though they're
getting sufficient sleep but wake up
unrefreshed, and during disturbed
sleep, the athlete is restless or has
fragmented sleep. A common type of
disturbed sleep is insomnia, which
is either the inability to fall asleep
within 30 minutes of lying down or
the inability to stay asleep.
in athletic
performance
Samuels and Bender say that feeling
refreshed within 30 minutes of waking
and not needing an alarm clock are
both good signs that the athlete is
getting proper quantity and quality of
sleep. Sleep apnea also is a frequently
undiagnosed cause of poor sleep,
especially in athletes with larger neck
circumferences or body builds.
Impact on performance
A recent study published in the
Journal of Sleep Medicine looked
at athletes in five university sports
and determined that sleep disorders
among student-athletes may be
related to lifestyle habits such as late
bedtime or use of cellphones after
lights out; psychological distress;
and competition activities, such as
morning practices and stressors
related to competition.
In a study of sleep extension in
professional New Zealand rugby
players, a small decrease in both
stress hormone expression and
reaction time was observed following
the increase in players' sleep times.
Dr. Cheri Mah from the Stanford
Sleep Disorders Clinic found similar
results with collegiate men's basketball
players. When they increased their
sleep times from six-and-a-half to
eight-and-a-half hours, their free throw,
3-point shooting and sprint times all
improved.
Napping during the day also has
been shown to reduce sleepiness and
enhance athletic performance in New
Zealand netball athletes. A 20-minute
nap on game day can improve jump
velocity and improve subjective
performance in elite netball players, as
assessed by their coaching staffs.
COACHAD.COM 27
http://www.COACHAD.COM
February 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2019
