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Published on: October 2, 2019
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Napping in high-performance athletes: Sleepiness or sleepability?
Luke Gupta1,2, Kevin Morgan2, Courtney North2
1English Institute of Sport, The High Performance Centre, Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre, Buckinghamshire, UK.
European Journal of Sport Science
|March 17, 2020
Summary
Elite athletes nap faster, suggesting a skill called sleepability, not just sleepiness from training. This study explored the difference between sleepiness and the ability to nap on demand in athletes.
Area of Science:
- Sports Science
- Sleep Medicine
- Human Performance
Background:
- Daytime napping is common in elite athletes, often attributed to sleep debt from intense training.
- The concept of 'sleepability'—the capacity to nap on demand, independent of sleep pressure—has not been studied in athletes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether elite athletes' napping behavior reflects sleepability rather than solely sleepiness due to sleep debt.
- To compare daytime sleep latencies between elite athletes, sub-elite athletes, and non-athlete controls.
Main Methods:
- A single nap opportunity model was used with 10 elite athletes, 10 sub-elite athletes, and 10 non-athlete controls.
- Sleep latencies were measured using polysomnography during a 20-minute nap opportunity.
- Subjective sleepiness was assessed using the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) before the nap.
Main Results:
- Elite athletes demonstrated significantly shorter sleep latencies compared to non-athlete controls in both adaptation and experimental trials (p < 0.05).
- These findings remained significant after controlling for pre-trial sleepiness (KSS) and total sleep time.
- Sub-elite athletes showed similar trends, but their sleep latency scores were more variable.
Conclusions:
- The results suggest that elite athletes' napping behavior may indicate a higher 'sleepability'.
- Napping in elite athletes might not solely be a consequence of nocturnal sleep disruption and subsequent daytime sleepiness.
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