If you’re an athlete, you know how important it is to get a good night’s sleep. How can you expect to give your best athletic performance when you haven’t slept? And riding the bench isn’t an option this season.
Not to worry! There are plenty of life-hacks out there that can help you fall and stay asleep through the whole night, so you can maintain your starter status.
But before we go over the best tips and sleep supplements available to you, let’s discuss why getting a good night’s sleep is critical.
Sleep is essential, especially if you’re an athlete, to maintain your health and overall well-being.
Sleeping gives your heart time to rest and recuperate. And after conditioning training with your teammates, you know you need it! In addition to allowing your heart to reset, getting a good night’s sleep can also strengthen your immune system, preventing illness.
It’s safe to say that getting a good night’s sleep can be a major key to never missing a game! It doesn’t stop there. Not only can getting a good night’s sleep help your physical performance, but it can help your mental performance, too.
That means that getting enough sleep can help you remember the new drill you just went over at practice. In other words, sleep helps you form memories and promotes effective cognitive functioning.
It’s no secret that exercise can help you fall asleep and sleep deeper. But what if you exercise vigorously every day, and you still can’t manage to get a good night’s sleep?
Well, a recent Stanford study shows that getting enough sleep can improve athletic performance by roughly 9%! This means that the opposite is true: if you don’t get enough sleep, you won’t help your team win that next game.
For instance, not getting enough sleep can drastically affect your reaction time and decision-making. Not to mention, a lack of sleep can cause anxiety and depression.
Sleep does more for athletes than keep them mentally sharp. Did you know getting a good night’s sleep is critical for preventing injuries? Keep reading below to find out why.
According to a Reuters Health study, athletes who can get 8 hours of sleep at night are less likely to get injured.
Another survey showed that soldiers who only got between 4 and 5 hours of sleep each night were much more likely to injure themselves compared to those who got between 7 and 8 hours of sleep each night.
But what does sleep have to do with getting injured? I’m glad you asked! When you sleep, your body gets the chance to recover and restore the muscles that you used the day before. This fact makes sleep vital to athletes who are always working their muscles!
Not only does sleep prevent muscle-overuse injuries, but it also helps improve your body's reaction time. Remember when we said that quicker reaction times can help you beat your opponent? Well, developing a quicker reaction time also ensures that your body will be able to keep up with your brain, so you won’t misstep and accidentally twist an ankle.
By now, we know how vital it is for an athlete to get a full night’s sleep. Let’s discuss how much sleep an athlete needs each night to be able to perform their best on and off the field.
In a recent study, experts found that serious athletes need about 8.3 hours of sleep each night. You might be wondering why this number is higher for athletes than for the average adult, and it’s because of the extra work athletes require from their bodies.
Even though athletes require 8.3 hours of sleep each night, the study also showed that they actually get around 6.7 hours of sleep. Talk about missing the mark!
But still, 6.7 hours of sleep is better than no sleep! Keep reading to learn some surefire tips for athletes to get the amount of sleep they need.
Consequently, it goes without saying that if you want to be number one on the field, you need to get a restful, deep night’s sleep. So how do you do it?
I’m glad you asked! If you’re an athlete and you want to help your team win at the next game by maximizing your hours of sleep each night, you can:
As you can see, there are plenty of ways for athletes to get a good night’s sleep. Not only can sleep help athletes perform better, but it can improve their overall health, too. Let’s discuss the benefits of getting a good night’s sleep below.
It goes without saying that you need a good night’s sleep to function the following day. But what exactly are the health benefits of getting a sufficient amount of sleep each night?
I’m glad you asked. The health benefits of getting a good night’s sleep include:
As you can see, the benefits speak for themselves! Now let’s take a look at some of the best sleep supplements available for athletes to ensure a win at tomorrow’s game.
If you’re an athlete, you know how important it is to fuel your body with the best ingredients. That’s why the following list of sleep supplements was made just for you! Check out the best sleep supplements and aids for athletes available on the market:
It’s important to pick the sleeping supplement that works best for you. My personal favorite sleeping supplement is NightCap. Keep reading to learn more about NightCap and its wide range of health benefits.
The EarlyBird Morning Cocktail
NightCap is an evening cocktail chock-full of healthful, all-natural ingredients designed to help you achieve the best night’s sleep possible. Not only does NightCap reduce stress and anxiety, but it maximizes your REM sleep, the dream phase of your sleep cycle.
In addition to helping your body achieve deeper REM sleep, NightCap helps you sleep through the night without waking up. NightCap contains zero calories and zero grams of sugar. It almost sounds too good to be true!
It’s safe to say that NightCap is a great way to end the day. You can even make it part of your evening routine; relax and wind down with NightCap to get the night’s sleep of your dreams.
Fortunately, there are also a number of tricks you can implement into your daily routine to help you relax and achieve a deeper night’s sleep. Let’s discuss this below.
The EarlyBird Morning Cocktail
Though drinking NightCap or taking a sleeping supplement is a surefire and effective way to get a deeper night’s sleep, there are some other additional things you can do to signal to your body that it’s time for bed.
Take a look at the things you can do before bed to help your body relax and improve your overall quality of life:
With the right bedtime routine, you’ll be falling asleep and winning games in no time! Just remember that consistency is key, and the most effective routine is the routine that works best for you.
In this article, we discussed how important a good night’s sleep is for athletes and the best sleep supplements available. We even discussed additional tricks for falling and staying asleep, so you can be alert and ready for next week’s game.
Now that you’re an expert on how to fall and stay asleep, you’ll make this year's team without a problem. Now go get some well-deserved rest!
Though oversleeping here is not necessarily bad for your health, oversleeping consistently may be an indicator of an underlying problem. Consult a health care professional to find out more.
Yes. Not getting enough sleep can impact every aspect of your life whether you’re an athlete or not. That’s why getting a good night’s sleep is critical to your overall health and well-being.
Yes. Studies show that athletes who get a sufficient night’s sleep have faster sprinting times than athletes who don’t get enough sleep. The study also showed the same results for free throws in basketball, striking in soccer, and stroke times in swimming.
Getting a good night’s sleep is crucial to exhibiting your best athletic performance.