Optimising Performance Through Sleep: An Evidence-Based Review

Sleep is increasingly being recognised as an important factor influencing athletic performance, recovery and overall health. This narrative review aims to discuss the factors that can affect sleep in athletes and how sleep can affect performance. Traditionally, athlete well-being has focused on training and nutrition; however, new evidence and initiatives now highlight sleep as an important element of performance. This review examines current evidence on sleep duration, sleep quality and sleep disturbances in athletic populations, with a particular focus on the effects related to competition. Athletes often report shorter sleep durations than non-athletes, despite experiencing less sleep fragmentation and quicker sleep onset. One study found that on nights before a competition day, athletes went to bed earlier (22:56 hr ± 49.2 min), woke up later (8:12 hr ± 58.6 min) and slept for longer (7:57 hr ± 60.9 min). A significant number of athletes face poor sleep quality, difficulty falling asleep, and excessive daytime sleepiness. Sleep disruptions are also common around competitions, with post-competition nights showing reductions in total sleep time and sleep quality compared to pre-competition nights. Factors contributing to this include late competition times, heightened physiological and psychological arousal, increased caffeine intake, travel demands and use of technology. Overall, these findings demonstrate that inadequate and disturbed sleep is widespread among athletes, especially during competition periods, which may impact recovery, cognitive function and emotional stability.