Snooze to Improve

Athletes are constantly tinkering with their nutrition and training plans to gain an edge. But a study performed by Stanford University researchers suggests that good old fashioned sleep, and plenty of it, may help an athlete's performance as much as anything. Therefore, student-athletes at Stanford University are not reaching for a needle or pills, but rather hitting the pillow--getting as much as 11 hours of sleep a night.

According to research presented at the 2009 SLEEP Conference, there has been a great deal of study on sleep deprivation and its negative effects on reaction time, and physical and cognitive performance, but not much done on the flip side. If you really want to see the biggest change in your performance, sleep is something that should be prioritize in your training regimen just as much as nutrition, workouts, recovery, and strength training.

Most college students believe they are getting adequate sleep and operating at a decent level of performance. They don't realize there could be a difference until they actually experience something else. While it would seem easier to convince an athlete to grab some extra sleep than extra wind sprints, changing routines can be difficult. For some, extra sleep cuts out time in their social lives or other areas they have prioritized. To some extent we are all sleep deprived and what we may perceive as our best effort, may not truly be our peak performance and could be much improved with a few extra hours of sleep.

Standford will continue the study for at least another year and hopes athletic trainers can relay the importance of athletes getting adequate shut-eye.