Now let me tell you why…

 

You are more likely to sustain an injury if you are sleep deprived.

 

• One study by Milewski et al. found that with less than 8 hours of sleep middle school and high school athletes were up to 70% more likely to report an injury than those getting 8 hours of sleep.

• The correlation between lack of sleep and increased injury risk is thought to be due to poor reaction times and cognitive function. Which leads me to my next point.

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You performance will improve when your sleep does.

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• Another study by the University of Texas found that reaction times and quick decision making in athletes was significantly higher in those getting sufficient sleep compared to their sleep deprived teammates.

• Cheri Mah studied the shooting accuracy in the Stanford men's basketball team and found that with sufficient sleep their shooting accuracy improved by 9.2%. A bonus is that their sprinting speed also improved.

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Sleep is vital for muscle recovery.

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• Exercise AND sleep induce the release of human growth hormone (HGH).

• Up to 75% of HGH is released during sleep.

• Lack of sleep therefore decreases tissue repair and further delays recovery after an injury.

 

 

 

Written by Jordan Fleming PT, DPT, OCS