Background: Research results obtained during the last decade indicate that adequate sleep is essential for athletic performance. For instance, Cheri Mah, Stanford University, proved how extended sleep in swimmers as well as in other sports allows improved achievements. We tried to reproduce these findings with elite young swimmers in a study that aimed at increasing sleep time of a team of 18 subjects aged 15-19 years and sharing identical sleep conditions. The limitation of this study was that increased sleep time depended on individual motivation to advance sleep time, without a training schedule change to allow for later wake-up. The results indicate that at this age the individual motivation was not high enough to give up late evening activities in favor of an additional hour of sleep. Aim: Following this finding, we aimed at characterizing sleep patterns in adolescents who chose to attend the Academy for Sports Excellence at the Wingate Institute, which allows them to have regular studies and intensive athletic professional training in a special facility with live-in setup. The young athletes sleep in dorms during weekdays and at home weekend nights. Methods: All new candidates were interviewed before they started the program and following three months within the academic year. The interview included standard or validated questionnaires regarding their sleep time, sleep quality, bed time, wake-up time, sleepiness, mood, and more. Fifty-eight subjects answered the first round of interviews and 50 the second one. Results: The results indicate that total sleep time during week nights became shorter by 0.4 hours (7.3h vs 7.7h; p<0.04); total sleep time during weekend nights remained unchanged (mean 9.8 hours and irregular), daytime sleepiness increased (ESS score 13 vs 11; p<0.002) and mood was higher. Discussion and Conclusions: In spite of the increasing evidence that sleep in normal amounts is essential for both cognitive and athletic performance, especially during adolescence, the young athletes in our study sleep less. Their daytime sleepiness is, as one would expect, somewhat higher, and additional research is needed to evaluate the influence this restricted sleep has on their athletic performance.
© Copyright 2014 The 3rd Wingate Congress of Exercise and Sport Sciences. Published by The Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sport. All rights reserved.