Abstract
Sleep is one of the main pillars of well-being, mental health and athletic performance. Recent research has shown that within elite athletes, a high percentage fails to obtain the recommended amount of at least seven hours of sleep. Besides the quantity, also the quality and circadian rhythm of sleep are often impaired. Poor sleep is leading to altered hormonal metabolism cardiovascular changes and altered cardiovascular and autonomous regulation, disturbed cognitive functions and, as a consequence, poor athletic performance. Furthermore, poor sleep is associated with an increased risk of injuries. This chapter summarises preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Tononi G, Cirelli C. Sleep and the price of plasticity: from synaptic and cellular homeostasis to memory consolidation and integration. Neuron. 2014;81(1):12–34.
Ding F, O'Donnell J, Xu Q, Kang N, Goldman N, Nedergaard M. Changes in the composition of brain interstitial ions control the sleep-wake cycle. Science. 2016;352(6285):550–5.
Baglioni C, Nanovska S, Regen W, Spiegelhalder K, Feige B, Nissen C, et al. Sleep and mental disorders: a meta-analysis of polysomnographic research. Psychol Bull. 2016;142(9):969–90.
Penzel T, Kantelhardt JW, Bartsch RP, Riedl M, Kraemer JF, Wessel N, et al. Modulations of heart rate, ECG, and cardio-respiratory coupling observed in polysomnography. Front Physiol. 2016;7:460.
Kuo TB, Chen CY, Hsu YC, Yang CC. EEG beta power and heart rate variability describe the association between cortical and autonomic arousals across sleep. Auton Neurosci. 2016;194:32–7.
Consensus Conference P, Watson NF, Badr MS, Belenky G, Bliwise DL, Buxton OM, et al. Joint Consensus statement of the American Academy of sleep medicine and Sleep Research Society on the recommended amount of sleep for a healthy adult: methodology and discussion. J Clin Sleep Med. 2015;11(8):931–52.
Xie L, Kang H, Xu Q, Chen MJ, Liao Y, Thiyagarajan M, et al. Sleep drives metabolite clearance from the adult brain. Science. 2013;342(6156):373–7.
Mikutta C, Feige B, Maier JG, Hertenstein E, Holz J, Riemann D, et al. Phase-amplitude coupling of sleep slow oscillatory and spindle activity correlates with overnight memory consolidation. J Sleep Res. 2019;28:e12835.
Lastella M, Memon AR, Vincent GE. Global research output on sleep research in athletes from 1966 to 2019: a bibliometric analysis. Clocks Sleep. 2020;2(2):99–119.
Reardon CL, Hainline B, Aron CM, Baron D, Baum AL, Bindra A, et al. Mental health in elite athletes: International Olympic Committee consensus statement (2019). Br J Sports Med. 2019;53(11):667–99.
Lastella M, Roach GD, Halson SL, Sargent C. Sleep/wake behaviours of elite athletes from individual and team sports. Eur J Sport Sci. 2015;15(2):94–100.
Mah CD, Kezirian EJ, Marcello BM, Dement WC. Poor sleep quality and insufficient sleep of a collegiate student-athlete population. Sleep Health. 2018;4(3):251–7.
Tuomilehto H, Vuorinen VP, Penttila E, Kivimaki M, Vuorenmaa M, Venojarvi M, et al. Sleep of professional athletes: underexploited potential to improve health and performance. J Sports Sci. 2017;35(7):704–10.
Roberts SSH, Teo WP, Warmington SA. Effects of training and competition on the sleep of elite athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med. 2019;53(8):513–22.
Lastella M, Lovell GP, Sargent C. Athletes' precompetitive sleep behaviour and its relationship with subsequent precompetitive mood and performance. Eur J Sport Sci. 2014;14(Suppl 1):S123–30.
Bartsch P, Dehnert C, Friedmann-Bette B, Tadibi V. Intermittent hypoxia at rest for improvement of athletic performance. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2008;18(Suppl 1):50–6.
Copenhaver EA, Diamond AB. The value of sleep on athletic performance, injury, and recovery in the young athlete. Pediatr Ann. 2017;46(3):e106–e11.
Youngstedt SD, Elliott JA, Kripke DF. Human circadian phase-response curves for exercise. J Physiol. 2019;597(8):2253–68.
Smith RS, Efron B, Mah CD, Malhotra A. The impact of circadian misalignment on athletic performance in professional football players. Sleep. 2013;36(12):1999–2001.
Dunican IC, Martin DT, Halson SL, Reale RJ, Dawson BT, Caldwell JA, et al. The effects of the removal of electronic devices for 48 hours on sleep in elite judo athletes. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;31(10):2832–9.
Juliff LE, Halson SL, Peiffer JJ. Understanding sleep disturbance in athletes prior to important competitions. J Sci Med Sport. 2015;18(1):13–8.
Riemann D. Epidemiology of sleep disorders, sleep deprivation, dreaming and spindles in sleep. J Sleep Res. 2019;28(1):e12822.
Basnyat B, Murdoch DR. High-altitude illness. Lancet. 2003;361(9373):1967–74.
Wu T, Ding S, Liu J, Jia J, Dai R, Liang B, et al. Ataxia: an early indicator in high altitude cerebral edema. High Alt Med Biol. 2006;7(4):275–80.
Yih ML, Lin FC, Chao HS, Tsai HC, Chang SC. Effects of rapid ascent on the heart rate variability of individuals with and without acute mountain sickness. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2017;117(4):757–66.
Auerbach PS, Cushing TA, Harris NS. Auerbach’s wilderness medicine. Philadelphia: Elsevier; 2017.
George CF, Kab V. Sleep-disordered breathing in the National Football League is not a trivial matter. Sleep. 2011;34(3):245.
Riemann D, Krone LB, Wulff K, Nissen C. Sleep, insomnia, and depression. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2020;45(1):74–89.
Dunn M, Thomas JO, Swift W, Burns L. Elite athletes' estimates of the prevalence of illicit drug use: evidence for the false consensus effect. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2012;31(1):27–32.
Momaya A, Fawal M, Estes R. Performance-enhancing substances in sports: a review of the literature. Sports Med. 2015;45(4):517–31.
Morselli L, Leproult R, Balbo M, Spiegel K. Role of sleep duration in the regulation of glucose metabolism and appetite. Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2010;24(5):687–702.
Haack M, Sanchez E, Mullington JM. Elevated inflammatory markers in response to prolonged sleep restriction are associated with increased pain experience in healthy volunteers. Sleep. 2007;30(9):1145–52.
Jarrin DC, Ivers H, Lamy M, Chen IY, Harvey AG, Morin CM. Cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction in insomnia patients with objective short sleep duration. J Sleep Res. 2018;27(3):e12663.
Taheri M, Arabameri E. The effect of sleep deprivation on choice reaction time and anaerobic power of college student athletes. Asian J Sports Med. 2012;3(1):15–20.
Milewski MD, Skaggs DL, Bishop GA, Pace JL, Ibrahim DA, Wren TA, et al. Chronic lack of sleep is associated with increased sports injuries in adolescent athletes. J Pediatr Orthop. 2014;34(2):129–33.
Buysse DJ, Reynolds CF 3rd, Monk TH, Berman SR, Kupfer DJ. The Pittsburgh sleep quality index: a new instrument for psychiatric practice and research. Psychiatry Res. 1989;28(2):193–213.
Samuels C, James L, Lawson D, Meeuwisse W. The athlete sleep screening questionnaire: a new tool for assessing and managing sleep in elite athletes. Br J Sports Med. 2016;50(7):418–22.
Driller MW, Mah CD, Halson SL. Development of the athlete sleep behavior questionnaire: a tool for identifying maladaptive sleep practices in elite athletes. Sleep Sci. 2018;11(1):37–44.
Zavada A, Gordijn MC, Beersma DG, Daan S, Roenneberg T. Comparison of the Munich Chronotype questionnaire with the Horne-Ostberg's Morningness-Eveningness score. Chronobiol Int. 2005;22(2):267–78.
Riemann D, Baum E, Cohrs S, Crönlein T, Hajak G, Hertenstein E, Klose P, Langhorst J, Mayer G, Nissen C, Pollmächer T, Rabstein S, Sitter H, Weeß H-G, Wetter T, Spiegelhalder K. Leitlinie S3-Leitlinie Nicht erholsamer Schlaf/Schlafstörungen. Somnologie. 2017;21(2):44.
Walker M. Why we sleep: the new science of sleep and dreams. New York: Penguin; 2017.
Ito SU, Kanbayashi T, Takemura T, Kondo H, Inomata S, Szilagyi G, et al. Acute effects of zolpidem on daytime alertness, psychomotor and physical performance. Neurosci Res. 2007;59(3):309–13.
Atkinson G, Drust B, Reilly T, Waterhouse J. The relevance of melatonin to sports medicine and science. Sports Med. 2003;33(11):809–31.
Reardon CL, Factor RM. Sport psychiatry: a systematic review of diagnosis and medical treatment of mental illness in athletes. Sports Med. 2010;40(11):961–80.
Reardon CL. The sports psychiatrist and psychiatric medication. Int Rev Psychiatry. 2016;28(6):606–13.
Wilson MH, Newman S, Imray CH. The cerebral effects of ascent to high altitudes. Lancet Neurol. 2009;8(2):175–91.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mikutta, C.A., Wyssen, A., Müller, T.J. (2023). Sleep and Sleep Disorders in Elite Athletes. In: Baron, D., Wenzel, T., Ströhle, A., Stull, T. (eds) Sport and Mental Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36864-6_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36864-6_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-36863-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-36864-6
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)