Impact of Short and Long Daytime Nap Opportunities on Agility, Aerobic, and Anaerobic Performance in Collegiate...

This study investigated the effects of two daytime nap opportunities (40 min and 90 min) on agility, anaerobic performance, and aerobic capacity in collegiate badminton players. Twenty collegiate badminton players participated in a randomized crossover repeated-measures design, including 10 females (age: 20.9 years ± 1.5 years, height: 167.9 cm ± 4.3 cm, weight: 58.3 kg ± 6.1 kg) and 10 males (age: 21.4 years ± 1.4 years, height: 179.7 cm ± 2.8 cm, weight: 73.0 kg ± 3.4 kg). Three experimental conditions were included: no nap (N0), a 40 min nap opportunity (N40), and a 90 min nap opportunity (N90), with a 72 h washout period between sessions. Following each condition, participants completed tests of agility (Y-test), anaerobic capacity (300 yard Shuttle), and aerobic capacity (Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test). Significant main effects of nap condition were observed for all performance outcomes (p < 0.001). Compared with N0, both N40 and N90 improved agility and anaerobic performance. While both nap durations significantly improved physical performance compared with the no-nap condition, the improvements observed in N90 compared to N40 were statistically significant but characterized by small effect sizes (d = 0.12-0.16). This suggests that while a 90 min nap may offer additional benefits, the incremental gain over a 40 min nap is modest for specific performance outcomes.