Importance of Sleep for Athletes

Importance of Sleep for Athletes
August 28, 2019

 

You will not be at the top of your game when you don’t sleep or rest enough. Sleep deprivation can make you more vulnerable to injury and make it harder to recover from current wounds. Before contacting any family medical clinic in OKC, read on to know how you can avoid these.

Sleep and Injury Prevention

Sleep deprivation makes it harder to finish any physical work as your cognitive and motor skills are fatigued. When you’re short on sleep, your muscles don’t react as rapidly as they would if you were well rested, and you’re suffering from concentration and attention. Sleep deprivation can influence your equilibrium and motor skills. An absence of sleep can lead to wounds as you are not ready to perform at your best physically or mentally.

According to the latest research on adolescent athletes, athletes who sleep enough every night (eight or more hours), have a lower risk of injury up to 68%. The decreased risk of injury was significantly related to the number of sleeping hours per night. Leisure was a higher consideration than how many sports the athletes have played, whether the athletes performed throughout the year and the trend towards athletes specializing in a specific sport.

Injury recovery skeletal muscles can be restored after an injury, but to do so, your body requires assistance. Sleep is an essential component of the regeneration process, and when you are deprived of sleep, you have a capacity to repair weakened tissue.

The latest research indicates that sleep has a permissive function in damaged tissue recovery and that sleep loss impairs recovery from muscle wounds. Those who were deprived of sleep showed reduced signs of muscle repair and deficits during recovery.

Injury Rehabilitation and Prevention

Sleep is one of the most efficient instruments to support athletic wellness. When you get enough sleep, you are less likely to get injured during athletic activity and promote better recovery from current wounds. Athletes should always get the recommended quantity of sleep every night: adolescents usually need about seven hours of sleep. However, up to 10 hours of shuteye may be useful during intense training or recovery periods. Typically, adolescents need about nine to 10 hours of rest every night.

Use these tips to maximize your recovery and decrease the probability of sport injuries with sleep:

Prioritizing Your Rest Sleep is a more important factor in injury prevention than the number of training hours. Do not sacrifice sleep for practice if you do not want to visit the roll-off dumpster in OKC frequently. Plan and make sure you have enough time every night to get the sleep you need. Figure the time you need to wake up in the morning and count back to determine your bedtime.

Mattress Meeting Your Needs Choosing a mattress that supports your preferred sleeping position can assist you to sleep better and feel better when you wake up. You will be well-backed with the correct bed and take off stress from pain points in your body. Some mattresses have characteristics that can decrease inflammation and help muscle recovery.

Avoid Late-night Exercise Exercise is usually useful for sleep, but when you practice late at night, you may feel too energized to get to sleep. It is best if you can complete operations at least a few hours before bedtime.

Practice Healthy Habits Good sleep hygiene can help you make the most of your hours of sleep. Maintain a periodic sleep timetable and bedtime routine and create your bedroom a good, cool, dark, quiet, and comfortable sleep environment.

In case of any tissue injury, you can always contact Longevity as it is a good family medical clinic in OKC.

**Disclaimer: This content should not be considered medical advice and does not imply a doctor-patient relationship.

Darryl D. Robinson, MD

Medical Director

Dr. Darryl Robinson, a Richmond, Virginia native, earned his undergraduate degree from Howard University, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He went on to receive his medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia in 1995. Commissioned into the U.S. Army the same year, Dr. Robinson completed his internship at Walter Reed and served as a General Medical Officer at Fort Stewart, Georgia. He left active duty in 1998 and remained in the reserves through 2004. After completing his residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and a fellowship in Pain Medicine, Dr. Robinson joined Oklahoma Sports Science and Orthopedics in 2002. He has since been recognized for delivering comprehensive, cutting-edge care for pain conditions. In 2012, he was named one of the region's top physicians by Castle Connolly. Frustrated by the limitations of conventional pain treatments, he expanded his approach to include wellness-based therapies focused on nutrition, hormone optimization, and regenerative medicine. He later became a Certified Fellow of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. Also in 2012, Dr. Robinson was honored as one of the first "Pink Tie Guys" by the Susan G. Komen foundation in Oklahoma, recognizing his advocacy for women's health.
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