Abstract

This study aimed to describe habitual sleep and nocturnal cardiac autonomic activity (CAA), and their relationship with training/match load in male youth soccer players during an international tournament. Eighteen elite male youth soccer players (aged 14.8 ± 0.3 years; mean ± SD) participated in the study. Sleep indices were measured using wrist actigraphy, and heart rate (HR) monitors were used to measure CAA during night-sleep throughout 5 consecutive days. Training and match loads were characterized using the session-rating of perceived exertion (s-RPE). During the five nights 8 to 17 players slept less than <8 h and only one to two players had a sleep efficiency <75%. Players’ sleep duration coefficient of variation (CV) ranged between 4 and 17%. Nocturnal heart rate variability (HRV) indices for the time-domain analyses ranged from 3.8 (95% confidence interval, 3.6; 4.0) to 4.1 ln[ms] (3.9; 4.3) and for the frequency-domain analyses ranged from 5.9 (5.6; 6.5) to 6.6 (6.3; 7.4). Time-domain HRV CV ranged from 3 to 10% and frequency-domain HRV ranged from 2 to 12%. A moderate within-subjects correlation was found between s-RPE and sleep duration [r = −0.41 (−0.62; −0.14); p = 0.003]. The present findings suggest that youth soccer players slept less than the recommended during the international tournament, and sleep duration was negatively associated with training/match load.

Highlights

  • Sleep is considered an essential component for athlete recovery due to its physiological and psychological restorative effects [1]

  • Our second hypothesis was only partially confirmed, as only sleep duration was negatively associated with training/match load

  • Sleep efficiency seemed less affected by training/match load, we found a large positive within-subject correlation between sleep efficiency and sleep duration

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Summary

Introduction

Sleep is considered an essential component for athlete recovery due to its physiological and psychological restorative effects [1]. Sleep habits are commonly characterized by sleep duration and quality [2]. Below 75% per night are considered inappropriate for teenagers (aged 14–17 years) to maintain adequate levels of performance, learning, development and physical and mental health [2,3]. Studies have mostly focused on the negative effect of inadequate sleep duration on athletic performance and recovery [4,5]. Some studies have described sleep efficiency a key indicator of sleep quality [6,7] in elite athletes [8], its impact on health and performance indicators have been less explored.

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