As parents and Coaches we put a lot of emphasis on working hard in school, at practices, in the weight room, and on nutrition, all if which are very important to athletic development. But what we often overlook in the training program is the importance of sleep.
It is easy to have a teenager sleeping until noon on a Saturday, or napping in the middle of the afternoon and feel like they are being lazy, But what if it has nothing to do with laziness? What if their Bodies desperately need that sleep?
It just so happens that in most cases they do. Sleep is just as important to athletic development as showing up to practice and hitting the weights. During practices and weight training their bodies are undergoing stressors to both the central nervous system and muscle tissues. These stressors cause mental fatigue and muscle soreness i.e the breakdown of tissue. This is a good thing, and is part of the process; however without adequate sleep the recovery process gets cut short.
During sleep our bodies recover from our hours of being awake, and growing adolescents need more than adults because of the changes they are going through as they develop into young adults.
Non-Athlete adolescents need 9 to 10 hours of sleep for their bodies to grow during puberty and Athlete adolescents need 10 to 12 hours of sleep because they are not only going through the normal phases of growth that come with puberty, they are also recovering from the mental and physical work they are doing while training for their sport.
Growth hormones are released during sleep and play a critical role in the body’s recovery from the stressors of the day such as lifting weights, and running hard during a practice. Adequate sleep improves an athlete’s energy, coordination, muscle growth, recovery, mental focus, ability to manage stress, accuracy, weight management, and academic performance; while sleep deprivation by as little as 2 hours per night will lead to decreases in the above mentioned areas of growth. 8 hours of sleep is not enough for our young athletes.
It is just as difficult to get kids into bed as it is to get them out of bed, but ideally they should sleep from 8:00pm to 6:00 am (depending on their schedule) during the week and allow them to sleep as long as they want on the weekends. Afternoon naps are also highly recommended when possible. A good sleep schedule will lead to better athletic and academic performance, and as a parent you will also get happier more cooperative kids…it’s a win win!
Coach Josh
If you would like to read further into this topic you can check out the following resources
The Effects of Sleep Extension on the Athletic Performance of Collegiate Basketball Players
Sleep and Athletes
Sleep and Athletic Performance
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