Consecutive days of racing does not affect sleep in professional road cyclists
Journal article
Sargent, Charli, Halson, Shona L., Martin, David T. and Roach, Gregory D.. (2022). Consecutive days of racing does not affect sleep in professional road cyclists. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. 17(3), pp. 495-498. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2021-0102
Authors | Sargent, Charli, Halson, Shona L., Martin, David T. and Roach, Gregory D. |
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Abstract | Purpose: Professional road cycling races are physiologically demanding, involving successive days of racing over 1 to 3 weeks of competition. Anecdotal evidence indicates that cyclists’ sleep duration either increases or deteriorates during these competitions. However, sleep duration in professional cyclists during stage races has not been assessed. This study examined the amount/quality of sleep obtained by 14 professional cyclists competing in the Australian Tour Down Under. Methods: Sleep was assessed using wrist activity monitors and self-report sleep diaries on the night prior to start of the race and on each night during the race. The impact of each day of the race on sleep onset, sleep offset, time in bed, sleep duration, and wake duration was assessed using separate linear mixed effects models. Results: During the race, cyclists obtained an average of 6.8 (0.9) hours of sleep between 23:30 and 07:27 hours and spent 13.9% (4.7%) of time in bed awake. Minor differences in sleep onset (P = .023) and offset times (P ≤.001) were observed during the week of racing, but these did not affect the amount of sleep obtained by cyclists. Interestingly, the 3 best finishers in the general classification obtained more sleep than the 3 worst finishers (7.2 [0.3] vs 6.7 [0.3] h; P = .049). Conclusions: Contrary to anecdotal reports, the amount of sleep obtained by cyclists did not change over the course of the 1-week race and was just below the recommended target of 7 to 9 hours for adults. |
Keywords | cycling; recovery; competition; activity monitors; athletes |
Year | 2022 |
Journal | International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance |
Journal citation | 17 (3), pp. 495-498 |
Publisher | Human Kinetics Publishers |
ISSN | 1555-0265 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2021-0102 |
PubMed ID | 35026733 |
Scopus EID | 2-s2.0-85128186471 |
Page range | 495-498 |
Publisher's version | License All rights reserved File Access Level Controlled |
Output status | Published |
Publication dates | |
Online | 13 Jan 2022 |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 01 Nov 2023 |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8zy11/consecutive-days-of-racing-does-not-affect-sleep-in-professional-road-cyclists
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