There are two things in life you can’t do without; breathing and sleeping. Unfortunately, most people are sleep deprived. This deprivation has led to many unwarranted occurrences such as accidents resulting from fatigue, different kinds of ailments, and in some extreme cases even death.
For athletes, getting enough sleep is extremely important if at all they are to be effective in their sport. To elaborate more on this, here are a few ways that proper sleep improves sports performance:
1. Improved Response Or Reaction Time
Anyone who participates in a sport knows that response time or reaction time is an extremely important element to have in order to achieve the highest level of performance in the activities of the sport.
Research has shown that lack of proper sleep among athletes can severely reduce their response time in a much similar way that alcohol intoxication affects an individual. It is important then for every sports person to get enough sleep.
Having a proper sleep routine and eliminating any distractions that would deny a sportsperson enough sleep would go a long way in improving reaction time when the person is participating in a sport.
2. Increased Speed And Accuracy
Proper sleep has proven to increase speed and accuracy among athletes when participating in their sport. A study done on basketball players showed that getting regular 10 hours of sleep led to them running faster and making more accurate shots during a game. Swimmers also show ncreased speed when participating in competitions after getting enough sleep.
Getting at least 9 hours of sleep every day will ultimately result in an increase in speed and accuracy for sportspeople
3. Reduced Injury Rates
Recent studies have shown that a huge number of injuries during sporting activities are as a result of deprived sleep. Any athlete who takes part in a sports activity after having slept for 6 hours or less is prone to get injured during a game.
Deprived sleep causes fatigue which in turn results in the athlete having poor response time during a sports activity. For a sport that has high adrenaline levels such as rugby, the likelihood of getting serious injuries is high if a player isn’t charged up owing to sleep deprivation.
A good daily 10-hour sleep will also help the body heal faster from previous injuries.
4. Improved Brain Function
Sports activities are not only a physical function but a psychological function as well. Every athlete needs to have a strong state of mind to be able to effectively function in a sport.
Lack of proper sleep has led to many athletes being stressed out, having poor memory, and being unable to make concrete decisions because the frontal lobe of the brain has been impaired.
Proper sleep will improve the brain’s function which will, in turn, boost an athlete’s sports performance.
Conclusion
There are many factors that lead to sleep deprivation. One major one is excess noise. This may result from sleeping next to a snoring spouse, living in an extremely noisy neighborhood, among other things that may deny you a good night sleep.
An effective solution to this menace is to get a pair of sleep earplugs that will block out all the noise. You can get yourself a pair of such earplugs from.The Listening Stack.
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