Abstract
(1) Background: The purpose of the present study was to examine the efficacy of sleep extension in professional rugby players. The aims were to: (i) characterise sleep quantity in elite rugby players and determine changes in immune function and stress hormone secretion during a pre-season training programme; (ii) evaluate the efficacy of a sleep extension intervention in improving sleep, markers of physical stress, immune function and performance. (2) Methods: Twenty five highly trained athletes from a professional rugby team (age (mean ± SD) 25 ± 2.7 years; height 1.87 ± 0.07 m; weight 105 ± 12.1 kg) participated in a six week pre-post control-trial intervention study. Variables of sleep, immune function, sympathetic nervous activity, physiological stress and reaction times were measured. (3) Results: Sleep extension resulted in a moderate improvement in sleep quality scores ([mean; ± 90% confidence limits] −24.8%; ± 54.1%) and small to moderate increases in total sleep time (6.3%; ± 6.3%) and time in bed (7.3%; ± 3.6%). In addition, a small decrease in cortisol (−18.7%; ± 26.4%) and mean reaction times (−4.3%; ± 3.1%) was observed following the intervention, compared to the control. (4) Conclusions: Professional rugby players are at risk of poor sleep during pre-season training, with concomitant rises in physical stress. Implementing a sleep extension programme among professional athletes is recommended to improve sleep, with beneficial changes in stress hormone expression and reaction time performance.
Highlights
Adequate sleep is considered critical for optimal performance and has been recognised as the most important recovery modality by a large number of elite team sport athletes, including rugby union [1]
Extending sleep resulted in a greater increase in time in bed, total sleep time and sleep quality, a decrease in physiological stress and improved reaction time performance compared to the control
Observed poor sleep times measured by actigraphy as compared to the present study. These data support previous findings that have characterised poor normative sleep behaviour in athletes [8,9,11,32,33,34]. These findings suggest that intensive efforts to improve habitual sleep behaviour in athletes are warranted
Summary
Adequate sleep is considered critical for optimal performance and has been recognised as the most important recovery modality by a large number of elite team sport athletes, including rugby union [1]. Rugby union is a repetitive high intensity collision sport where the athlete’s ability to train at high intensity to maintain or improve physical qualities such as speed, power and strength and to optimise recovery is vital. This is relevant during the pre-season training phase where the athlete is placed under a high degree of exercise stress to induce adaptations in physical fitness. Poor sleep has been linked with an increased incidence of fatigue related injury [3], hormonal and metabolic disturbances [4,5] and elevated sympathetic nervous system activity [6].
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