Blog
Sleep
To perform at your best, there are lots of variables you can influence or directly control.
Consistent training, eating a balanced diet, working on your mental strength, prehab routines, and post-pool mobility are some of the most talked about. However, one of the most important yet most neglected factors for youth athletes is sleep. Whilst swimming is synonymous with early morning training, sleep is essential for general well-being and growth, and sleep habits are often a neglected part of the overall performance matrix. Let’s explore the facts about sleep and some tips on how to improve overall sleep hygiene.
General
Whilst asleep, your body only needs to function to maintain homeostasis and make sure organs are working. Sleep uses minimal energy, allowing other internal processes to take priority. Recent studies have shown that one night of sleep deprivation reduces protein synthesis by 18%, increases cortisol by 21,% and drops testosterone by 24,% resulting in muscle breakdown.
Preventing Illness
During sleep, your immune system makes proteins called cytokines. When you have an infection, your body needs more of these cytokines to help fight the infection and restore normal function. During this time, your body requires more sleep to aid in recovery and ‘boost’ your immune system. When sleep is reduced or consistently compromised, you expose yourself to an increased risk of illness as the production of cytokines will become impaired. Lack of sleep has been linked to various health problems including obesity, high blood pressure and increased risk of stroke.
Recovery and Repair
During exercise, muscle tissue is broken down and energy stores are reduced due to providing a fuel for muscles. Consuming protein is essential for muscle tissue repair, and it is sleep that allows this process to take place. Without the repair of muscles and the restoration of energy levels, athletes increase their risk of injury by continuing to work fatigued muscles.
Brain Function
During the day, the brain is learning and processing new information with or without conscious effort. Sleep allows the brain to sort through the day’s learning, conversations, and experiences and either store them in memory or forget them. New skills and techniques are also stored during sleep. This allows for these to become ingrained habits, which can increase performance output. Sleep also helps to increase mood, cognitive function, decision making,g and reaction time. Mental health and resiliency can also be improved through sleep, allowing for calmer decision-making and better choices. Impaired sleep over long periods of time has been proven to show a reduction in performance skills such as reaction times, due to the necessity of maintaining normal basic function over exercise performance.
Improved Performance
Studies have shown that increased daily sleep can improve athletic performance in several ways. Reaction time and increased speed (time to 15m) were positively associated with swimmers who slept an additional 1 hour per night. Turn speed has also been shown to improve, along withthe rate of kick (kicking speed) and overall mood. Skill accuracy also improves, meaning swimmers can maintain technique for longer throughout hard sets whilst also learning new drills quicker. Swimmers who slept an additional 1 hour a day compared to their usual average sleep also expressed a decrease in daytime sleepiness and overall fatigue during training sessions. Increased sleep before competitions is highly recommended, and coaches will often cancel morning sessions leading into important competitions to assist with this. Following a poor night’s sleep, athletes are encouraged to nap during the day or on the way to training in the car. This has been proven to increase training performance in the afternoon/evenings.
Tips for a better night’s sleep
As with many things in life, routine allows for more control over the outcome. Having a set nighttime routine can positively impact how ready your body is to fall asleep a night. We all know that screentime before sleep can impair readiness to fall asleep by overstimulating the brain. No ‘blue light’ within an hour of sleep is commonly recommended as light has a negative impact on your body’s circadian rhythm.
Sticking to the same bedtime is also strongly recommended. Getting in from session, showering, eating, downtime with family, and then bed should be a nightly occurrence. This allows your body to recognise that the next step in the routine is to switch off and fall asleep. We often have athletes who struggle to fall asleep. Their brains are constantly processing the day and actively thinking about school, swimming, and other aspects of life. Finding a coping strategy for this is important. Some athletes will read before bed to allow the brain to focus and feel tired enough to enable sleep. Others use podcasts, audiobooks, or music to give the mind something to focus on whilst drifting off to sleep. A common recommendation for bedtime is that if it takes longer than 20 minutes to fall asleep, you should get up and reset the pattern for bedtime. That might be a simple as brushing your teeth again, going for a sip of water, or reading another chapter of your book. Something small and unstimulating that you can start again with.
Another key aspect of a good night’s sleep is to create the right environment. Make sure your room is dark with no natural light and the temperature is cool. Eliminate noise to avoid interrupting falling asleep and ensure you have proactively prepared for the next morning to avoid having to get out of bed again during the night.
In summary, sleep is an important aspect of athletic performance and the best form of recovery. Creating a routine and avoiding overstimulation before bed will help to enable a good night’s sleep and result in better performance both in academics and sports.