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Time for Bed

As coaches, teachers and parents we all know that cellular phone dependence can result in behavioral and social challenges of everyday living. Excessive use of devices is 

characterized by more than 4 hours of mobile phone activity per day.

Athletes align with greater predicaments as they have interactions, not only with classmates, teachers, academic programs, teammates, coaches, family, but invest a great deal of time in the rigorous demands of their sports be it in training for practice or competition.

Sports require not only physical abilities but psychological involvement which adds additional stresses. Competition, being coached, preparation, performance, injuries and much more add to one’s day-to-day feelings and behaviors.

Rest is imperative whether it be napping or bedtime. What is important is that sleep repairs muscle, energy stores and combines many of our short term memories into single unified stable and often lasting thoughts. Conversely sleep deprivation 

can lead to higher error rates, motor performance decline, cognitive and emotional deficits. Skeletal muscle glycogen is an important energy source for muscle contraction. Poor sleep can reduce replenishment and reduce endurance the following day. 

Needing to always check and use a mobile phone especially before bedtime is problematic behavior. The emission of blue light from the screen delays the release of melatonin, a natural hormone released by one’s brain in response to darkness signaling to your body it is time for sleep. Consistently utilizing a phone in this manner shortens the amount of sleep you will get and the quality.

The following are a few of the many reminders to continually instruct athletes with, and are important constructs of building a winning program and living a healthy productive life.

Limit cell phone use especially in the evening.

Blue light from your phone interferes with sleep

Insufficient sleep for an athlete is less than 7-8 hours

Sleep is an important fuel your muscles need for performance 

Poor sleeping behavior can impair muscular strength, speed, and increase the risk of injury

Sleep is important component of reaction time

Sleep fights off mental fatigue, the feeling of training is harder than it actually is

Sleep is important to improve ‘precovery’, that is, when there is a stressful physical event it will help optimize the body’s readiness and accelerate post-event recovery

Sleep is critical for maintaining optimal cognitive function 

Sleep is composed of a series of complex neurophysiological states that play important roles in learning, memory and cognitive processing

Quality sleep is important in academic success 

Sleep is important in adapting to travel

 Adequate sleep is important for social, behavioral and dealing with the problems of everyday living

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Athletics And Sleep

Strength training and conditioning are important parts of athletic development. Exercise application, prescription, lifting progressions, frequency, and intensity are investigated, studied  and integrated into programs to enhance performance and augment the chances of success. Coaches address nutrition and many upper level institutions hire sports nutritionists that address pre and post exercise dietary regimes.

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The most difficult for the coach, as well as the athlete, to control that negatively affects physical strength, endurance, cognitive function, and injury risk is adequate sleep. 

Sleep is affected by studying, exams, bright lights, roommates, friends, dating, family, traveling, meetings, classes, practice, anxiety, stress, competition, competition results, caffeine, alcohol, diets, overtraining, electronic device usage, injuries, medical issues and even in some instances increased body mass. It is recommended that quality sleep of well over 8 hours is necessary and in addition taking naps during the day of 20 to 90 minutes is highly beneficial.

What can we do as coaches?  The number one avenue is,  education of the athlete. Monitoring and utilizing sleep questionnaires and encouragement of self reporting, teaching usage of sleep sensor technology, instructions of exercise recovery strategies, sleeping in dark quiet bedrooms, limiting electronic device usage, winding-down strategies and coaching the importance of recovery are all important aspects of guidance.

When sleep becomes as important to the athlete as practice, competition, strength training, conditioning and diet; it becomes a tremendous aid in physical development, cognitive function, enhances sports-specific skills, positively affects reaction time, accuracy, restores performance baseline, increases endurance, enhances psychological resilience, reduces injuries, and optimizes performance.

“Nothing is better than a good night’s sleep.”