P.E.D.s - How Sleep Impacts Performance
January 25, 2018
“Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” - Vince Lombardi
Sleep. It’s the action of recovery. While many of our athletes in the D10 understand the importance of physical conditioning and nutrition, they often overlook the importance of sleep. Consider this your wakeup call! The quantity and quality of sleep can be the difference between maximizing your performance in your marquee event or falling short when it matters most
.
Sleep optimizes reaction times and improves athleticism.
I came across an interesting study completed in 2000 that compared the reactions times of individuals with .1 blood alcohol content (bac) to individuals experiencing 22 hours without sleep. The results showed that reaction times suffered by as much as 300% and were comparable to those with a .1bac.
A separate study in 2011 by a researcher at Stanford University conducted a sleep extension study with the basketball team. After establishing a baseline of sleep activity for the team, the players were told to get as much sleep as possible with a goal of 10 hours per night. The results were astounding. Sprinting speed increased and shooting accuracy improved by 9%. That’s some serious performance enhancement. Studies on athletes from other sports have confirmed similar results.
Take-away: In the days leading up to Game Day, cut out alcohol and strive for 10 hours of sleep. Know that any increase in your sleep should have a positive impact on your performance.
Stay tuned for next week's post to learn more about how sleep can enhance your game-day performance.