We all know exercise is a good a thing. For many of us, it can enhance how well we sleep. However, when you are performing at the top level it can be a different story. Sleep is incredibly important for sports people and athletes, however there can be things beyond their control that actually make it more difficult to get the amount of sleep required.
In this blog, Dr Lindsay Browning explores why sleep is so important for athletes and common sleeping issues that may affect them.
Why is sleep especially important for athletes?
Sleep is the time when our bodies rest and repair. This means sleep is a critical time for tissue repair, and physical recovery. Deep sleep particularly seems to be associated with growth hormone secretion, which supports muscle repair and adaptation to exercise. Also, sleep is the time when we process motor learning and skills, which is essential for top athletes to improve their techniques and refined performance.
Sleep also plays a really important role in cognitive performance and decision-making. Even small amounts of sleep loss can affect reaction times, decision-making and emotional regulation. In elite sports where small margins matter, these factors can be critical.
There is evidence that short sleep and poor sleep quality are associated with a higher risk of injury. Athletes sleeping for less than seven hours a night have an approximate 1.7 times increased risk of musculoskeletal injury compared to well rested peers, according to this 2024 study. This highlights that sleep is not only important for peak performance but also for staying healthy and uninjured so that you’re able to train and perform consistently across the season.
Do athletes need more sleep than less active people?
There is a growing body of evidence that athletes do indeed need more sleep than non-athletes, perhaps around 9-10 hours. This is likely due to the increased physical load as well as cognitive and emotional demands placed on athletes through training, competitions and travel.
In a pioneering study in 2011, American college basketball players were instructed to deliberately increase their time in bed to a minimum of 10 hours in bed each night. The results found that their reaction times improved, shooting accuracy improved and they were faster, as well as reduced sleepiness and improved mood during the day.
Is sleep important for recovery and post training improvements?
As well as increased sleep and getting good quality sleep before training and competitions being so important, sleep is also vital for recovery and post training improvements. Sleep is vital to help the brain learn new skills and tactics since memory consolidation and learning happen during sleep – particularly important in sports, which are “technique-heavy”. In addition, deep sleep (N3) supports immune function and reduces inflammation which are important when athletes may be more susceptible to illness during intense training.
Common sleeping issues for athletes and sports people
Despite the undeniable importance of sufficient good quality sleep for peak athletic performance, many athletes do not get enough good quality sleep. The reasons for this are commonly not having enough time to sleep due to early training sessions, or late night competitions, and also increased risk of insomnia where pre-sleep cognitive arousal (stress) can make it harder to switch off and fall asleep, especially close to a major competition.
Sleep may also be disrupted by pain and muscle soreness, or sleeping in unfamiliar environments when travelling in hotel rooms or having late meals due to travel.
Jetlag and travel
Elite athletes are often required to travel long distance distances and across time zones for competitions. This can cause problems with falling asleep at night due to jetlag and their bodies being misaligned to their circadian rhythm.
Also, they may be required to perform in a competition at a time when their internal body clock is not optimally aligned (such as being in a competition during the day in another country on a different time zone when their body thinks it’s 2am), which can reduce performance irrespective of how much sleep they’ve had before beforehand.
In these situations, it’s important for athletes to maximise their alertness even during times when their body clock is out of sync, and to learn ways of adapting to a new time zone as quickly as possible. Using light bright light exposure at strategic times and paying attention to sleep timing, naps and meal times can be really helpful to
minimise the disruption. Professional athletes may want to plan their travel times and deliberately shift their circadian rhythm in advance of travel, particularly for long distances or eastward travel.
Chronotypes
Chronotypes are another factor which can significantly affect performance. Some people are naturally morning types (larks) while others are more evening types (owls). Your chronotype affects when you feel peak alertness, strength and performance during the day. This means early morning training sessions may be more challenging for evening types (owls), whereas late night competitions may be harder for morning types (larks).
Pre-race nerves and insomnia
Despite the undeniable importance of sleep for peak athletic performance, studies show athletes show a high prevalence of insomnia, including taking longer to fall asleep, frequent awakenings and feeling less refreshed the next day. The main reasons for this are a lack of opportunity for sleep due to busy schedules and increased stress
and pressure leading to pre-sleep cognitive arousal.
A lot of advice about improving sleep tends to be sleep hygiene related – focusing on doing the right things before bed such as having a wind down time, avoiding bright light before bed, avoiding caffeine and alcohol and having a comfortable bed environment. However, elite athletes can often feel that they do everything right but they still struggle to sleep because they schedule is overloaded, they might experience travel demands and jetlag, as well as high levels of arousal due to the importance of the upcoming sporting event. In which case focusing more on acceptance that you’re not likely to sleep brilliantly the night before a major competition can be more helpful than trying to fall asleep. Instead, focusing more on consolidating good sleep in the weeks leading up to it is more helpful, perhaps by increasing sleep opportunity through sleep extension so that athletes don’t go into a competition carrying a significant “sleep debt”.
Working with athletes and sports people
Sleeping problems in athletes are rarely just about “bad habits”, but rather a perfect storm of demanding training schedules, competition pressures, travel, and circadian disruptions. As a sleep expert I work with professional and belief athletes to help them improve their sleep in real world conditions, including managing periods of high stress, reducing the impact of pre-competition insomnia, and minimising jetlag during periods of travel across time zones.
If you, your team or organisation needs help supporting your sporting performance and getting better sleep, then do explore my specialist sleep services and do get in touch today.