Sleep and Performance in Professional Athletes

Abstract

Purpose of Review Sleep is an essential human behavior that plays a key role in proper biopsychosocial development as well as short- and long-term biological, physical, psychological, and cognitive health. Sleep plays a key role in athletic performance, influencing an athlete’s ability to train, recover, and perform, as well as their overall wellness. Over the recent decade, the awareness of sleep’s import has penetrated just about every professional sport domain. The purpose of the review was to identify and synthesize the literature published within the past 5 years (2018–2022) that relates to sleep and performance in professional athletes. Literature related to nonprofessional, high-level athletes (e.g., collegiate; Olympic) was omitted as well as those associated with non-traditional professional sports (e.g., eSports). Recent Findings Results from 38 articles were incorporated into this review, which covered (1) the sleep’s role in the training, physical injury prevention and recovery, competitive performance, and mental health of professional athletes, (2) common sleep problems and disorders in professional athletes, and (3) the impact of unique challenges from training, travel, competition, and other factors on sleep health. Additionally, we provide an orientation to utilized strategies and interventions to assist with sleep health in professional athletes, as well as conclude with a commentary on critical steps forward. Summary Sleep plays a critically important role in the training, recovery, performance, and overall wellness of professional athletes. Professional athletes are vulnerable to a variety of sleep-related problems and disorders, due to unique factors related to training, travel, and competition, among other factors. Improved, standardized research methodology and partnerships between professional athletes, coaches, teams, and organizations and researchers are necessary to advance the knowledge of sleep and performance in professional athletes, including identifying sport-specific differences and variation across individual characteristics, as well as developing individualizable, dynamic, and appropriate interventions for improving sleep health among professional athletes.

Promotion of Para athlete well-being (the PROPEL studies): A cross-sectional study of sleep in Para athletes across two nations

“…For example, coaches should consider athletes' chronotypes when designing training and travel schedules. 22,57 Finally, sleep disorders and symptoms may be difficult to identify in nonspecific health evaluations and require focused screening. 6 This is especially pertinent, as athletes from both countries had poor sleep quality scores yet did not rate their sleep as poor on the subjective sleep item of PSQI.…”

“…Furthermore, the associations found with chronotype and sleep-related factors in this study warrant consideration in strategies to improve sleep. For example, coaches should consider athletes’ chronotypes when designing training and travel schedules 22,57 …”

“…24 The MEQ contains 19 items related to sleep and wake times, as well as preferred times for physical and mental activities. 25 The questionnaire classifies participants' chronotype using the following scale: evening type , intermediate (42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54)(55)(56)(57)(58), and morning type (59-86). 22,24 The MEQ has been found reliable across different populations and its validity demonstrated using both subjective and objective indicators.…”

The Negative Effects of Travel on Student Athletes Through Sleep and Circadian Disruption

“…Studies have shown that poor sleep has negative impact on athletic performance (Charest and Grandner, 2020, Craven et al, 2022). Conversely, increased sleep duration and quality are associated with improved performance and competitive success (Watson, 2017; Cook and Charest, 2023).…”

The impact of videogames on the mood of amateur youth players during consecutive games

“…Thus, it has been observed that in volleyball, consecutive matches affect heart rate variability ( 29 ); while in basketball, consecutive matches affect kinematic demands (relative distance, high intensity running, peak speed, deceleration) ( 30 ), as well as physical condition and psychological state ( 31 ). In esports, studies on the influence of congestion resulting from consecutive matches are practically nonexistent, but it has been observed that weeks with a higher number of games lead to poorer sleep quality for players ( 32 ). The absence of research on game congestion in esports becomes even more relevant when considering that in esports, the psychological component is more predominant than the physical one, and alterations of the psychological state are associated with disruptive behaviors during games ( 33 , 34 ).…”