Extra sleep improves athletic performance
July 13, 2017
The study, authored by Cheri Mah of Stanford University, was conducted on six healthy students on the Stanford men's basketball team, who maintained their typical sleep-wake patterns for a two-week baseline followed by an extended sleep period in which they obtained as much extra sleep as possible. To assess improvements in athletic performance, the students were judged based on their sprint time and shooting percentages.
Significant improvements in athletic performance were observed, including faster sprint time and increased free-throws. Athletes also reported increased energy and improved mood during practices and games, as well as a decreased level of fatigue.
"Although much research has established the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive function, mood and performance, relatively little research has investigated the effects of extra sleep over multiple nights on these variables, and even less on the specific relationship between extra sleep and athletic performance. This study illuminated this latter relationship and showed that obtaining extra sleep was associated with improvements in indicators of athletic performance and mood among members of the men's basketball team."
The amount of sleep a person gets affects his or her physical health, emotional well-being, mental abilities, productivity and performance. Recent studies associate lack of sleep with serious health problems such as an increased risk of depression, obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
aasmnet/
???The research also shows that aspirin may be effective at blocking other pathways that promote platelet activation, independent of COX-1. Further research is now under way to better understand these additional pathways that may cause clotting in patients in an effort to continue to improve patient outcomes,??? said Gurbel.
This investigator-initiated study was funded by an unrestricted educational grant from Bayer HealthCare LLC and Sinai Hospital of Baltimore.
The study in its entirety can be found online at circ.ahajournals or by contacting the LifeBridge Health Marketing Department at 410-601-5528.
Sinai Hospital of Baltimore is a member of LifeBridge Health, a regional health organization, which also includes Northwest Hospital Center, Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital, Jewish Convalescent & Nursing Home, and related subsidiaries and affiliates.
lifebridgehealth/