Sleep: The #1 Performance Enhancer

In the last blog, I provided the outline for elite performance in life and sport, including: Foundation, Fuel, Recovery, & Supercharge. This month, I am sharing about SLEEP, which can enhance each of the 4 areas listed above. Sleep is universal, and fundamental to life, so this information applies to performance in our daily lives, jobs, and our recreation and sport endeavors.

Sleep Goals:

• “sleep hygiene” - our habits/practices that are conducive to sleeping well on a regular basis. It starts with how we wake up, includes things we do all day long, our bedtime habits and sleep environment.

• set yourself a sleep-related goal after reading today’s newsletter. It can be something small, such as: start tracking how much time you are in bed for, shutting off screens 30 min before bed, wearing blue light blocking glasses, or turning on the sleep tracking feature of your smart watch.

RECOVERY COACHING: we can help you with your recovery routine from mobility training, heat/cold exposure protocols, to sleep solutions, wearable data analysis, and more! Just let us know what you’re struggling with!

Dr. Marc Bubbs dedicates an entire chapter in his book, Peak, to discussing sleep and circadian rhythms as it relates to our health and performance. He used the following statements to describe sleep:

• “the greatest limiting factor to human health and athletic performance”

• “associated with virtually every athletic quality”

• “the low hanging fruit of performance”

• “could unlock 2-5% performance gains”

• “not a fully tapped resource”

• “the ultimate performance enhancer”

• “sleep should be non-negotiable”

Now that we know what he thinks of sleep, let’s dive into the science of sleep and why it’s important. The following bits of data are based on sleep research (from Peak, By Dr. Marc Bubbs):

• Sleep Recommendation:

  • National Sleep Foundation recommends 7-9 hours/night

  • We know that performance takes a nosedive with any less than 6 hrs/night

  • Athletes require more sleep at 8-10 hr/night

• Sleep & Wellness:

  • Lack of sleep is strongly associated with chronic illnesses, even in athletes it is shown to impair blood sugar control and the immune system

  • Lack of sleep negatively influences decision-making, problem solving, and memory

• Sleep & Athleticism:

  • Sleep duration AND quality are both important and found to influence: speed, endurance, strength, power, injury risk, immunity, attention, decision-making, learning

• Sleep & Pain/Injury/Ability to Push Yourself:

  • Lack of sleep reduces pain tolerance by 10%

  • Injury risk is increased 1.7x with less than 8 hrs of sleep/night

• Sleep & Immune System:

  • Less than 6 hrs of sleep showed a 4.5x increased risk of getting sick (3x increase with 7 hrs/night)

• College Athlete Study: Extending athlete’s sleep from 6.6 hr/night to 8.5 hr/night showed performance improvements in 2 months:

  • 5% more speed

  • 9% more accuracy (ie. free throws, 3-pointers, throwing, pitching, hitting, serving, jump rope timing, wall ball shots, weightlifting technique, etc)

  • better reaction times

• Things that compromise sleep:

  • early morning practices/training sessions

  • Intense training, acutely ramping up training loads

  • Travel, sleeping in unusual places

  • Sleeping pills, alcohol

  • Caffeine in the evenings

  • Blue Light exposure

  • ADHD medications

  • Nicotine

  • Restless Leg Syndrome

Here is an affiliate link to Dr. Bubbs’ book, Peak, and Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, PhD.