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Pillow Talk Say yes to the sandman. Regular sleep can make the difference between winning and losing
By John Rosengren We all want more sleep. Only kids resist naps or going to bed early. But if your life is active or athletic, sleep is more than a luxury. Increasingly, evidence suggests that a well-rested body performs more efficiently than a sleep-deprived one. Anke Hüber found this out the hard way. A Top 20 tennis player at the 1999 Advanta Championships in Philadelphia, she was a clear favorite in a first-round match against 52nd-ranked Alexandra Stevenson. But delayed by a semifinal run in a tournament in Leipzig, Germany, Hüber didn't arrive in Philadelphia until late the night before her match. Suffering from jet lag and a lack of sleep, she split two close sets but dropped the third 1-6. "I couldn't move," she recalls. Hüber's experience illustrates what the experts preach: Sleep is crucial to athletic performance. Rested, you feel on top of your game. Tired, you struggle with quickness, coordination, strength and reaction time -- not to mention low energy. "Sleep affects your emotional, cognitive and physical functions -- all factors enormously important in training and performance," says Neil Kavey, M.D., director of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center's Sleep Disorder Center in New York City. Sleep is your body's nightly tune-up. It helps rebuild muscle, restore strength and rejuvenate energy. Most of us need between eight and 8 1/2 hours of z's a night -- even more for teenagers, whose added demands of adolescence mean they require up to nine hours of rest. Of course, between busy schedules, nerves and traveling, you probably almost never get enough pillow time. More than half of adults between 18 and 29 say they wake up feeling unrefreshed, according to the National Sleep Foundation, and more than a third say they suffer from significant sleepiness during the day. As you age, the worse it seems to get: A 1998 NSF survey found that three quarters of women ages 30 to 60 averaged less than 6 1/2 hours of sleep during a workweek. No snooze, you lose Casual about the amount of sleep you get? Consider this: You're more likely to get injured when you're sleep-deprived, says Sue Robson, an exercise physiologist with the U.S. Ski Team. "Your concentration levels and reaction times are diminished." You're also more susceptible to illness, since too little sleep can stress the body's hormonal and metabolic functions and run down your immune system. Lack of shut-eye can even sabotage training habits, sapping your motivation, eroding your discipline and adversely affecting your mood. "Everything goes to mush when I don't get enough sleep," says Cammi Granato, the captain of the 1998 U.S. women's hockey team. "I start eating poorly and don't drink enough water." Worse things happened to U.S. Alpine skier Alex Shaffer, who says she suffered several emotional lows related to lack of sleep. After adjusting her schedule to allow more time to rest, Shaffer says she not only felt better mentally, she also performed better on the slopes. "People don't win because they're physically stronger," Shaffer says. "It's because they're stronger between the ears." Kavey agrees. "The well-rested person sustains attention better." Sleep right Of course, a good night's sleep can't guarantee peak performance, just as one restless night won't doom you. The key is to maintain healthy rest patterns during training and for several nights before an event. To determine what your optimal night's sleep is, try seeing when you wake up without an alarm clock. (Remember, it can take several nights of extended snoozing to pay off any sleep debt, so give it a few days.) Jot down sleep patterns along with workout details and nutrition information in an exercise log to ascertain ideal levels; be sure to note when you have a stellar, or cellar, performance. Also watch how you feel during waking hours. In the late afternoon, your body experiences a natural metabolic slowdown. If you're well-rested, you'll glide through it; if you're sleep-challenged, you'll want to nod off. For many, the answer is the siesta. A 20- to 30-minute nap can help ease the sleep deficit. Athletes like Granato and Shaffer nap to restore energy. But if napping makes it more difficult to fall asleep at night, take a pass. Getting enough sleep can give your game a winning edge. If nothing else, it gives you time to dream of glory. For more "Your Body" features check out Sports Illustrated For Women magazine, on newsstands now.
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