What's The Relationship Between Sleep And Athletic Performance?

Sleep has a huge impact on your overall physical and mental well-being.

The recommended amount of sleep for athletes is between seven and nine hours each night. Failure to get enough sleep can negatively impact not only your sports performance but also your quality of life.

Studies have been performed to identify the effects of poor sleep on all different types of athletes, including power, strength, and endurance athletes.

Some of these studies show that sports athletes who get adequate quality and quantity of sleep have better sports performance and competitive success. They are also at a reduced risk of getting injured.

For endurance athletes, those who failed to get adequate sleep were slower at running and had slow recovery times.

Athletes whose sport required accuracy and precision showed a decrease in performance by up to 53% after having just 4 to 5 hours of sleep compared to a normal night’s sleep.

All of the studies point to the extreme importance of sleep when it comes to athletic performance. Whether your sport requires speed, agility, strength, or endurance, getting adequate amounts of high-quality sleep is essential to your performance and progress.