Sleep Interventions Designed to Improve Athletic Performance and Recovery: A Systematic Review of Current Approaches

Abstract

Future researchers should aim to conduct sleep interventions among different athlete populations, compare results, and further establish guidelines and intervention tools for athletes to address their specific sleep demands and disturbances.

Effects of training and competition on the sleep of elite athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…There is contradictory evidence for which threshold (ie, medium vs high) is most appropriate for athletes17 39; therefore, research should explore how athlete type (ie, endurance vs power) and training phase (heavy vs light) affect bias of different thresholds 39. Moreover, while it is important to develop strategies that can mitigate sleep disturbances (eg, sleep hygiene) with the aim of improving performance,6 more objective data are required to better understand which athletes will benefit and when they will benefit from such strategies. For instance, despite reports that individual sport, aesthetic sport and female athletes are susceptible to sleep disturbances before competition,94 there are limited supportive, objective data.…”

“…Not surprisingly, many athletes identify sleep as the most important recovery behaviour for athletic success 5. Extending sleep may be beneficial for sports-specific skill execution 6. Nightly sleep duration has been positively correlated with team netball performance7 and associated with injury risk in adolescent athletes 8…”

Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Associations Between Athlete Burnout, Insomnia, and Polysomnographic Indices in Young Elite Athletes

“…Given that burnout symptoms predict insomnia symptoms, the question of how we can prevent sleep complaints among young elite athletes, especially among athletes who perceive high levels of burnout, arises. A recent systematic review showed that research in this area is still in an early stage (Bonnar, Bartel, Koakoschke, & Lang, 2018). Based on ten existing intervention studies aimed at increasing performance and/or recovery through sleep interventions, Bonnar et al (2018) concluded that sleep extension was the most beneficial approach, whereas napping, sleep hygiene and post-exercise recovery strategies produced mixed results.…”

“…A recent systematic review showed that research in this area is still in an early stage (Bonnar, Bartel, Koakoschke, & Lang, 2018). Based on ten existing intervention studies aimed at increasing performance and/or recovery through sleep interventions, Bonnar et al (2018) concluded that sleep extension was the most beneficial approach, whereas napping, sleep hygiene and post-exercise recovery strategies produced mixed results. Their review also suggests that sleep disturbances often occur during regular training periods due to poor sleep hygiene (e.g., late training or game sessions) or as a response to heavy training workloads (e.g., functional over-reaching).…”

“…Furthermore, including cognitive and behavioral components seems important, as previous studies revealed that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) interventions are among the most efficient approaches to improve sleep, and particularly dysfunctional sleep-related cognitions (Edinger & Means, 2005;Manber et al, 2012;Schutte-Rodin, Broch, Buysse, Dorsey, & Sateia, 2008). Because such a program would focus on all athletes in a class (not only those with high burnout levels or insomnia symptoms), Bonnar et al (2018) emphasize that the baseline and follow-up assessment should not only assesses the effectiveness of the delivered program, but also include screening for athletes with sleep complaints that need to be treated individually (e.g., generally high insomnia symptoms, high pre-competition anxiety, obstructive sleep apnea). With such an approach, an overload of the educational contents can be avoided, whereas it is still possible to identify athletes who need more intensive and professional care.…”