Managing sleep to avoid a nightmare performance

Stefanos Tsitsipas exited the French Open quarter finals this week, in-part blaming his flat performance on a pre-game nap. But how much can sleep (or the lack of it) impact the performance of athletes? And what can we do so that sleep works in our favour? 

First things first, let’s not knock sleep. For good reason it’s lauded as the most important recovery tool we have to re-energise the body and mind. Which is why those competing at the sharp end of sport try and a get a lot of it. And I mean a lot.  For example, Holger Rune, another French Open quarter finalist this week, puts his head down for 9-13 hours each day. A mere nap compared with former Chelsea footballer Michael Essien who would rack up 14 hours a day during his playing days. But as much as sleep is important, knowing the right time to catch 40 winks is equally so.

It’s only relatively recently that sport scientists have begun to better understand how an athlete’s ‘circadian rhythm’ can impact their performance. Both physically and psychologically. When I first heard of circadian rhythms I thought it may have been something I’d stumbled through at a Ceilidh. Alas, our circadian rhythm is largely just a fancy term to describe our internal clock which regulates our sleep-wake cycle. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, minimising the disruption to our natural sleep-wake cycle is something athletes look to avoid. For elite tennis players like Stefanos Tsitsipas this can prove tricky, when you consider tournament schedulers can have the players competing on court anytime from mid-morning to midnight. Not to mention the constant hazard of jet lag when competing on a worldwide tour with the inevitable and frequent crossing of time zones. Some level of disruption is largely unavoidable.

To throw another factor into the mix, some of us are naturally morning, afternoon or evening people. In other words, athletes will perform at their best at different times of the day. In experiments using the dreaded BLEEP test, researchers have suggested that an individual’s fitness performance can vary by a whopping 26% depending on when we do it. Equally, how much sleep we get and when we take it will impact all important stress levels.  Stress levels that, if not regulated properly, will negatively impact concentration, energy levels and technique.

So, when sport is often decided by the finest of margins the impact of sleep and scheduling can therefore not be overlooked. When it comes to sleep and our own circadian rhythms, we’re unlikely to have the power to arrange races or matches to align with our peak performance window.  But there are some things within our control.  And it’s these things that we should focus on.

Here are some of my tips to avoid you being a Sleepy Stefanos and to help you bring your A game to your next big sporting event.

1.  Increase your night time sleeping hours.

It’s simple… but it’s effective. Don’t underestimate the benefits of a good night’s sleep.  Athletes who increased their nightly sleep time from 6.5 hours to 8.5 were shown to improve their speed and accuracy.  Increasing your sleeping time has also been shown to make you less susceptible to injury.   

2.  Get to know your peak performance window.

Try to keep a performance diary or perhaps use a fitness app to gauge your physical performance when training or competing at different times of the day.  This is not an exact science as there are other physical and psychological factors which will impact your sporting performance. But taking this kind of approach may help give you some indication of your peak performance windows.

3.  Make adjustments to your sleep and training schedule in advance.

If your next big race starts at 10am, but you usually sleep until 9am and hate those morning runs… it’s probably not going to augur well in terms of your performance on the day!  Even if it’s a struggle, try to mirror the race-day environment by incorporating morning runs into your training schedule.  Additionally, adjust your sleep schedule a week or two in advance, so that you still get the necessary sleep, but which will also mean you wake up earlier.  On the day of the race, you may not feel like it’s morning at all.

4.  Be conscious of what your optimal stress levels are.

Whether you perform at your best when you’re super chilled, super pumped or somewhere in between will be different for all of us. Take steps in your preparation, such as using music, meditation or self-talk to try and get your stress levels in your optimal pre-performance zone.