Longitudinal assessment of objective sleep and power output in Division I collegiate baseball athletes

Many college athletes experience insufficient sleep due to athletic, academic, and social constraints. While prior studies have observed cross-sectional associations between poor sleep and performance in athletes, few studies have longitudinally assessed performance variations in relation to sleep measures. We investigated whether objectively measured sleep assessments were associated with peak power output improvements during a fall season of Division I collegiate baseball players.

Peak power output was assessed weekly for 12weeks in 24 male collegiate baseball players (age: 21±1years). Objective sleep (Oura ring) was assessed over the final 6weeks to determine total sleep time, sleep efficiency, and other assessments of sleep quality, including the proportion of nights in which athletes maintained total sleep time ≥7 hours or sleep efficiency ≥90%. Bivariate correlations between sleep measures and peak power output were performed.

Greater improvements in peak power output throughout the fall season were associated with higher total sleep time (r=0.429, p=.036), higher sleep efficiency (r=0.411, p=.046), and fewer nighttime awakenings (r=-0.495, p=.014). Furthermore, the rate of change in peak power output was associated with the proportion of nights in which athletes maintained total sleep time ≥7 hours (r=0.557, p=.005) or sleep efficiency ≥90% (r=0.509, p=.011).

These findings support an association between adequate sleep duration, quality, and consistency in training season performance trajectories in college athletes.

Data will be made available upon reasonable request by the corresponding author.