Sleep Like A Pro
Most of us are just weekend warriors, but we can learn from those for whom excellent athletic performance is their job: professional athletes. Sleep scientists have found that adding just one extra hour of sleep can dramatically increase pro athletes’ performance, to the point that some teams with traditional two-a-day practice times had better outcomes by skipping a morning practice to enable their players to sleep longer. This is why it’s worth making sure you have a good mattress, since an old, uncomfortable mattress can lead to tossing and turning, preventing the deep restorative sleep that’s so important.
Take Your Muscles Back To School
The brain needs sleep in order to keep your memory in good working order. You may already know that without a good night’s rest, it’s difficult for children to do well in school. However, emerging research is suggesting that solid sleep is also necessary for muscle memory to work properly. That’s right: if you’re struggling to master a new move, gain explosive power, or increase your speed, the answer might not be in more repetitions or hours training. Instead, it may begin the night before, when you choose a couple extra hours of shuteye over clicking “next episode”.
Scheduling Sleep: How Much Is Enough?
Doctors recommend 7-9 hours of sleep for average people. Remember, the average person is a couch potato, so take into consideration that you’re placing above-average demands on your body. Athletes in training should sleep at least an hour extra (that’s 8-10 hours, if you’re paying attention). Training extra hard? Consider adding even more time in the sack: when Stanford basketball players added about 2 hours to their nightly sleep time, their reflexes quickened, their speed and free throw accuracy improved, and they felt better.
Sleep is the time when your body repairs itself. If you’re an athlete or serious exerciser, you don’t want to do anything that will keep you out of the game or away from the gym. You’ve worked too hard to risk not meeting your goals, especially when the answer is so simple. Make sure you’ve got the right mattress, and then get to bed!
Sources:
Sleep And Athletic Performance – www.huffingtonpost.com
Can Sleep Improve Your Athletic Performance? – www.WebMd.com