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No compromise of competition sleep compared with habitual sleep in elite Australian footballers
Lalor, Benita J. Halson, Shona L. Tran, Jacqueline Kemp, Justin G. Cormack, Stuart J.
Lalor, Benita J.
Halson, Shona L.
Tran, Jacqueline
Kemp, Justin G.
Cormack, Stuart J.
Abstract
Purpose: To assess the impact of match-start time and days relative to match compared with the habitual sleep characteristics of elite Australian Football (AF) players. Methods: 45 elite male AF players were assessed during the preseason (habitual) and across 4 home matches during the season. Players wore an activity monitor the night before (−1), night of (0), 1 night after (+1), and 2 nights (+2) after each match and completed a self-reported rating of sleep quality. A 2-way ANOVA with Tukey post hoc was used to determine differences in sleep characteristics between match-start times and days relative to the match. Two-way nested ANOVA was conducted to examine differences between competition and habitual phases. Effect size ± 90% confidence interval (ES ± 90% CI) was calculated to quantify the magnitude of pairwise differences. Results: Differences observed in sleep-onset latency (ES = 0.11 ± 0.16), sleep rating (ES = 0.08 ± 0.14), and sleep duration (ES = 0.08 ± 0.01) between competition and habitual periods were trivial. Sleep efficiency was almost certainly higher during competition than habitual, but this was not reflected in the subjective rating of sleep quality. Conclusions: Elite AF competition does not cause substantial disruption to sleep characteristics compared with habitual sleep. While match-start time has some impact on sleep variables, it appears that the match itself is more of a disruption than the start time. Subjective ratings of sleep from well-being questionnaires appear limited in their ability to accurately provide an indication of sleep quality.
Keywords
actigraphy, recovery, team sport, performance
Date
2018
Type
Journal article
Journal
International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance
Book
Volume
13
Issue
1
Page Range
29-36
Article Number
ACU Department
Faculty of Health Sciences
School of Behavioural and Health Sciences
School of Behavioural and Health Sciences
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
File Access
Controlled