How sleep important for Athletes

Abstract

Sleep is extremely important for performance, learning, development and physical and mental health.3 Some of the consequences of inadequate sleep include: a reduction in academic performance, mood disturbance, increases in risk taking behaviour and drowsy driving. From an athletic perspective, reductions in

performance, decision-making ability, learning and cognition can occur alongside reductions in immune function and an increased susceptibility to weight gain. While this chapter will outline the importance of sleep for all athletes, additional

focus will be placed on the adolescent athlete. It is becoming increasingly clear that adolescence (ages 12–18 yrs) is a period of development where sleep

is particularly important. What is also becoming obvious is that many adolescents do not obtain the recommended amount of sleep. This chapter will discuss consequences of reduced sleep, how much sleep is required, reasons for poor sleep and strategies that can be utilized to enhance sleep quality, and quantity in athletes and adolescents