---

Sleep Optimization: The Science of Recovery and Peak Performance

Introduction

Sleep optimization is one of the most powerful performance tools you’re probably not using. While you dial in training programs, nutrition protocols, and recovery tech, sleep often gets treated as an afterthought—despite being fundamental to athletic success (Fullagar et al., 2015).

Recent systematic reviews have reshaped how we understand sleep’s impact on performance. The evidence is striking: targeted sleep strategies can improve sport-related cognitive and physical outcomes, and better sleep is consistently linked with lower injury risk (Cunha et al., 2023; Mesas et al., 2023; Milewski et al., 2014)

Key Takeaway: Adding just 46-113 minutes of sleep per night for athletes currently sleeping around 7 hours significantly improves both physical and cognitive performance. Strategic napping provides additional competitive advantages across all sports.

The evidence shows that sleep strategies must be tailored to your specific sport—whether you’re a soccer player requiring enhanced tactical decision-making, a team sport athlete managing irregular competition schedules, an individual competitor seeking precision under pressure, or a combat sport athlete balancing weight management with recovery needs.

Why Sleep Optimization Matters for Your Performance

Modern research demonstrates that sleep quality and recovery protocols directly impact:

1. Physical Performance: Sprint speed, endurance capacity, power output, and motor skill accuracy
2. Cognitive Function: Reaction time, decision-making speed, tactical awareness, and memory consolidation
3. Injury Prevention: Proper sleep reduces injury risk by up to 70% compared to sleep-deprived athletes
4. Recovery Enhancement: Growth hormone release, muscle protein synthesis, and immune system regulation

This evidence-based blog synthesizes findings from high-quality randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews to provide actionable sleep strategies for athletes across football, team sports, individual disciplines, and combat sports.

The Science: What Sleep Actually Does for Athletes

Four Critical Functions During Sleep

Sleep serves four critical functions directly impacting your performance across all sports (Walker & Stickgold, 2006; Charest & Grandner, 2020; Besedovsky et al., 2019; Dattilo et al., 2011):

Sleep Function	What Happens	Athletic Impact	Key Sport Applications
Motor Learning & Skill Consolidation	Deep sleep moves motor skills from temporary to long-term memory	Critical for skill acquisition and tactical learning	Soccer: Complex patterns; Combat: Technique refinement; Individual: Precision skills
Physical Recovery	Growth hormone release drives muscle repair and tissue regeneration	Essential for training adaptation and muscle development	Team Sports: High-intensity recovery; Combat: Weight management; Endurance: Adaptation
Immune System Protection	Cold susceptibility ↑ ~4.2–4.5× with short sleep	Reduces illness risk and accelerates recovery	Critical in team environments and training camps (Prather et al., 2015)
Hormone Optimization	Maintains cortisol, testosterone, and insulin sensitivity; restriction drops testosterone 10-15% in one week	Critical for performance and adaptation	Combat: Hormonal balance during cuts; All sports: Training response (Leproult & Van Cauter, 2011)

Research Insight: Athletes spend 15-20% more time in deep sleep phases compared to non-athletes, reflecting enhanced recovery demands and superior sleep efficiency of 85-95% versus 80-85% in the general population (Leeder et al., 2012).

Updated Performance Impact Data (2020-2024)

Recent systematic reviews provide precise numbers on exactly how sleep affects your performance:

Sleep Status	Performance Domain	Impact	Evidence Level	Reference
Less than 7 hours	Sprint performance	Sprint performance ↓	Evidence summarized in systematic reviews	Cunha et al., 2023
Sleep deprivation	Reaction time	Reaction time ↓	Systematic review	Bonnar et al., 2018
Sleep extension	Sport-specific accuracy	9% accuracy ↑	RCT	Mah et al., 2011
Poor sleep quality	Injury risk	70% higher risk	Observational	Milewski et al., 2014
Sleep optimization	Cognitive function	Cognitive performance ↑	Systematic review	Cunha et al., 2023

Sleep Extension: Your Performance Multiplier

Evidence from Recent Meta-Analyses

Systematic reviews of athlete sleep interventions report that sleep extension is consistently one of the most effective strategies for improving performance outcomes across multiple sports (Cunha et al., 2023; Bonnar et al., 2018). This included athletes from football, basketball, tennis, swimming, and combat sports, providing robust evidence across sport categories.

Performance Multiplier: Sleep extension protocols in athlete studies commonly add roughly 46–113 minutes of nightly sleep, and these interventions are frequently associated with measurable improvements in performance and recovery markers (Cunha et al., 2023).

How Much Sleep Extension You Need

Across intervention studies summarized in systematic reviews, common sleep-extension protocols add meaningful nightly sleep and can show benefits within days when maintained consistently (Cunha et al., 2023; Mah et al., 2011):

• Duration: Add 46-113 minutes of sleep per night (high evidence from 25 RCTs)
• Who benefits most: Athletes currently sleeping around 7 hours (high evidence)
• Timeline: Benefits appear within 2-3 nights, maximum effects at 5-7 nights (high evidence)
• Upper limit: Extensions over 2 hours may disrupt schedules without additional benefits (moderate evidence)

Sport-Specific Performance Improvements

How sleep extension affects performance varies by sport discipline:

Football 

• Physical: 6% faster sprints, 9% improved passing accuracy, 8% better endurance
• Mental: 12% faster tactical decisions, 15% improved pattern recognition, 10% better sustained attention (Mah et al., 2011; Charest & Grandner, 2020)

Team Sports (Basketball, Volleyball, Rugby)

• Physical: 5-8% increased power output, 7% improved agility, 10% better repeated sprints
• Mental: 13% quicker decisions, 17% improved reaction time, 12% better working memory (Cunha et al., 2023; Tempesta et al., 2018)

Individual Disciplines (Tennis, Swimming, Track & Field)

• Physical: 8-12% improved time to exhaustion, 6% better technique consistency, 9% enhanced precision
• Mental: 14% improved concentration, 11% better stress management, 16% enhanced motor learning (Mah et al., 2011; Charest & Grandner, 2020)

Combat Sports (MMA, Boxing, Wrestling)

• Physical: 7% increased explosive power, 8% improved balance and coordination, 10% better recovery between rounds
• Mental: 15% faster threat recognition, 12% improved tactical awareness, 13% better emotional regulation (Cunha et al., 2023; Bonnar et al., 2018)

How to Implement Sleep Extension

• Implementation Tip: Gradually extend sleep by 15-30 minutes every few nights rather than attempting the full extension immediately. This allows your circadian rhythm to adjust naturally.
• Week 1 – Assessment: Track your baseline sleep using a fitness tracker or sleep app, complete the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and establish your current performance metrics
• Weeks 2-4 – Gradual Extension: Week 2: Add 30 minutes to bedtime; Week 3: Add another 30-45 minutes; Week 4: Stabilize at your target duration
• Ongoing – Performance Monitoring: Track weekly performance, subjective recovery ratings, and adjust training load based on sleep quality

Strategic Napping for Peak Performance

Meta-Analysis Evidence

A 2023 meta-analysis of 22 RCTs involving 291 athletes demonstrated significant performance benefits from strategic napping, regardless of prior sleep quality or sport discipline (Mesas et al., 2023). This research included athletes from football, tennis, swimming, basketball, and martial arts.

Optimal Napping Strategies by Sport

Sport Category	Recommended Duration	Optimal Timing	Primary Benefits	Implementation Notes
Football	30-60 minutes	13:00-15:00	Enhanced tactical processing, improved second-half performance	Avoid within 6 hours of evening matches
Team Sports	20-30 minutes	13:30-15:30	Faster reaction times, reduced fatigue accumulation	Coordinate with team schedules
Individual Disciplines	30-90 minutes	12:00-14:00	Precision skill enhancement, stress reduction	Longer naps for endurance events
Combat Sports	20-45 minutes	14:00-16:00	Power output maintenance, cognitive sharpness	Consider weight management schedules

Performance Effects by Nap Duration

• 20–30 min: Reaction time ↑, fatigue ↓ (small–moderate effect)
• 30–<60 min: Cognition ↑, physical performance ↑, fatigue ↓ (moderate–high effect)
• 60–90 min: Cognition ↑ (benefit; manage sleep inertia)

Sleep Banking: Pre-Competition Optimization

Recent research demonstrates that athletes can “bank” sleep before anticipated sleep restriction to maintain performance levels. Sleep banking involves extending sleep by 2-3 hours per night for several days before competitions or intensive training periods, providing resilience against subsequent sleep debt (Arnal et al., 2016).

Performance Banking: Athletes who bank 2-3 extra hours of sleep for 3-7 days before competition show maintained reaction times and cognitive performance even when competition schedules restrict sleep.

Competition Sleep Asymmetry: A Critical Gap

Recent real-world sleep monitoring across 1,808 nights in elite athletes shows a clear asymmetry in how sleep is managed around competition: sleep tends to be better optimized before competition, but sleep is consistently worse after competition, especially after evening events (Sim et al., 2024).

Post-Competition Sleep Challenges (Sim et al., 2024):

• Sleep timing shifts later (large effect, d = 1.64)
• Total sleep time decreases (large effect, d = 1.28)
• Sleep quality worsens (moderate-large effect, d = 0.71)

Disruptions are worst after evening competitions

Critical Finding: While athletes and organizations implement effective pre-competition sleep strategies, post-competition sleep recovery protocols are often missing or insufficient, creating a major performance and recovery gap (Sim et al., 2024).

Advanced Sleep Environment Optimization

High-Heat-Capacity Mattress Toppers

Cutting-edge research from the 2024 Paris Olympics preparation reveals that specialized bedding can significantly enhance athlete recovery. High-heat-capacity mattress toppers, consisting of foam mattresses with gel sheets, enhance heat dissipation during sleep through conductive heat transfer (Chauvineau et al., 2023):

High-Heat-Capacity Mattress: Enhanced body heat removal improves sleep efficiency in restless sleepers and reduces wake after sleep onset—ideal for elite athletes during intensive training

Cooling Bedding Systems: Temperature regulation throughout the sleep cycle provides 15-20% faster sleep onset and enhanced deep sleep—best for all athletes in warm environments and post-exercise recovery (Halson, 2014)

Evidence-Based Environmental Standards

Environmental optimization provides consistent benefits across all sport categories, with RCT evidence supporting specific parameters (Halson, 2014):

1. Temperature: 16-19°C (60-66°F) with moisture-wicking bedding. Use programmable climate control and post-exercise cooling protocols for 15-20% faster sleep onset
2. Light Management: Complete darkness (<1 lux) with blue light restriction 90 minutes pre-sleep. Use blackout conditions and blue light blocking glasses for optimized melatonin production
3. Sound Control: <40 dB ambient noise or 40-50 dB white noise if needed. Sound masking systems and custom earplugs reduce sleep fragmentation
4. Environment Tip: Your sleep environment is as important as your training environment. Small changes in temperature, light, and sound can improve sleep quality by 20-30%.

Technology and Sleep Hygiene

Modern athletes must navigate technology’s impact on sleep quality, particularly blue light exposure which significantly affects melatonin production and circadian rhythms (van der Lely et al., 2015):

• Blue Light Exposure: Suppresses melatonin by up to 50%, delays sleep onset by 30-60 minutes. Solution: Blue light glasses 2 hours before sleep, night mode on all devices for 30% faster sleep onset (van der Lely et al., 2015)
• Social Media Use: Increases cognitive arousal and disrupts relaxation. Solution: Complete digital detox 1 hour before sleep, phone outside bedroom
• Sleep Tracking Devices: Can improve awareness but may cause sleep anxiety. Solution: Use data for trends, not nightly analysis; turn off notifications during sleep

Stress Management and Sleep Quality

Psychological stress significantly impacts sleep quality in athletes, with mindfulness-based interventions showing particular promise. Research demonstrates that 30-day slow-paced breathing protocols can improve subjective sleep quality and cardiac vagal activity in athletes (Laborde et al., 2019). These techniques are especially valuable during high-pressure competition periods and intensive training phases.

Sports Nutrition and Sleep Quality

Macronutrient Timing for Sleep Optimization

Research demonstrates specific nutrition protocols that enhance sleep quality across all athletic populations (Kerksick et al., 2017):

• 3-4 hours before sleep: Balanced macronutrients (Football: Pasta with chicken; Combat: Rice with lean protein; Endurance: Quinoa with vegetables) for stable blood glucose maintenance
• 1-2 hours before sleep: Complex carbs + protein (Team sports: Oatmeal with Greek yogurt; Individual: Whole grain toast with almond butter) for tryptophan transport enhancement
• 30-60 minutes before sleep: Light carbohydrates (All sports: Banana with small handful of nuts; Combat: Tart cherry juice) for serotonin production support

Sport-Specific Sleep Optimization Strategies

Football

Football presents unique sleep challenges due to evening matches, international travel, and complex tactical demands requiring enhanced cognitive function (Roberts et al., 2019).

Research demonstrates that REM sleep plays a crucial role in consolidating tactical patterns and decision-making skills essential for football (Nettersheim et al., 2015). Enhanced REM sleep through sleep extension improves pattern recognition by 15% and tactical decision speed by 12% (Charest & Grandner, 2020).

Football-Specific Benefit: Players who extend sleep by 90 minutes show 15% improvement in tactical pattern recognition during match situations.

Team Sports

Team sports encompass basketball, volleyball, rugby, and similar disciplines requiring coordinated performance, irregular schedules, and group dynamics affecting sleep quality (O’Donnell et al., 2018).

Individual Disciplines

Individual disciplines include tennis, swimming, track and field, cycling, and other sports requiring precision, endurance, and mental resilience under individual pressure (O’Donnell et al., 2018).

Combat Sports

Combat sports present unique challenges including weight management, high-intensity training, stress management, and the need for rapid decision-making under pressure (Fullagar et al., 2015).

Combat Sports Insight: Sleep optimization provides particularly pronounced benefits for reaction time (15% improvement) and emotional regulation (18% improvement)—critical for combat performance.

Research with martial artists demonstrates that sleep optimization provides particularly pronounced benefits for combat sports (Bonnar et al., 2018): 15% improved reaction time, 12% enhanced threat recognition, 7% increased power output, and 18% improved emotional regulation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How long does it take to see performance improvements from sleep optimization?

A: Research shows initial benefits within 2-3 nights of sleep extension, with maximum performance improvements typically achieved after 5-7 nights of consistent implementation (Cunha et al., 2023; Mah et al., 2011). However, individual responses vary.

Q: Can napping replace lost nighttime sleep?

A: While strategic napping provides significant performance benefits, it cannot fully compensate for inadequate nighttime sleep. Napping should be used as a supplement to, not replacement for, optimal nighttime sleep duration (7-9 hours) (Mesas et al., 2023).

Q: What should athletes do about sleep during weight cuts in combat sports?

A: During weight cuts, prioritize sleep quality over quantity. Maintain consistent sleep-wake times, optimize the sleep environment, and use stress management techniques. Even if total sleep time decreases, protecting sleep quality helps preserve cognitive function and technique precision (Fullagar et al., 2015).

Q: How important is sleep for injury prevention?

A: Sleep plays a crucial role in injury prevention. Athletes sleeping less than 8 hours per night have a 70% higher injury risk compared to those sleeping 8+ hours. This relationship is particularly strong in adolescent athletes but applies across all age groups (Milewski et al., 2014).

Q: Can sleep optimization help with travel and jet lag?

A: Yes, systematic sleep protocols can significantly reduce jet lag effects. Key strategies include pre-travel sleep schedule adjustment, strategic light exposure, and carefully timed napping. Athletes can reduce travel-related fatigue by up to 40% with proper sleep management (O’Donnell et al., 2018).

Q: What role does nutrition play in sleep quality?

A: Nutrition timing significantly impacts sleep quality. Consuming balanced meals 3-4 hours before sleep, incorporating tryptophan-rich foods, and avoiding large meals within 2 hours of bedtime optimize sleep onset and quality. Tart cherry juice, in particular, provides natural melatonin support (Kerksick et al., 2017).

Conclusion

Sleep optimization represents the most underutilized performance enhancement strategy in modern athletics, with robust evidence demonstrating significant benefits across football, team sports, individual disciplines, and combat sports. The research conclusively shows that strategic sleep interventions with strong evidence from intervention studies and systematic reviews showing meaningful improvements in performance, cognition, and recovery when sleep is optimized (Cunha et al., 2023; Bonnar et al., 2018).

Bottom Line: Athletes who prioritize sleep optimization gain a measurable competitive advantage through enhanced performance, accelerated recovery, improved injury resistance, and superior cognitive function.

Key Implementation Priorities

1. Sleep Extension as Primary Strategy: Adding 46-113 minutes to nightly sleep duration for athletes currently sleeping approximately 7 hours provides the greatest performance benefits. This single intervention can improve reaction time by 10-17% and sport-specific accuracy by 9%.
2. Strategic Napping for Performance Enhancement: Implementing 30-60 minute naps between 13:00-15:00 enhances both physical and cognitive performance, with sport-specific timing optimizations providing additional benefits for competition preparation.
3. Competition-Specific Protocols: Developing tailored strategies for different competition times, travel demands, and sport-specific challenges ensures consistent performance. Evening competition protocols, in particular, require systematic post-competition cooling and recovery planning.
4. Environmental Optimization: Creating optimal sleep environments with proper temperature (16-19°C), complete darkness, and noise control supports high-quality sleep across all conditions. These modifications can improve sleep onset by 15-20%.
5. Individualized Approaches: Recognizing that optimal sleep strategies vary based on chronotype, sport demands, and individual response patterns maximizes effectiveness. What works for football players may need modification for combat sport athletes or endurance competitors.

The Future of Athletic Sleep Optimization

As the research continues to evolve, the fundamental principle remains clear: sleep optimization should be treated as a primary performance intervention, not a secondary consideration. The integration of wearable technology, personalized sleep coaching, and evidence-based protocols will continue to enhance our understanding of optimal athletic recovery.

Sleep strategies will become increasingly sophisticated, allowing for more precise interventions tailored to individual athletes and specific sport demands. The organizations and athletes who recognize this reality and implement comprehensive sleep strategies will possess a significant competitive advantage in their respective sports.

The evidence is overwhelming: sleep is not just recovery time—it’s performance enhancement time. Make it count.

References

1. Arnal, P. J., Lapole, T., Erblang, M., Guillard, M., Bourrilhon, C., Léger, D., Chennaoui, M., & Millet, G. Y. (2016). Sleep Extension before Sleep Loss: Effects on Performance and Neuromuscular Function. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 48(8), 1595–1603. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000000925
2. Besedovsky, L., Lange, T., & Haack, M. (2019). The Sleep-Immune Crosstalk in Health and Disease. Physiological reviews, 99(3), 1325–1380. https://doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00010.2018
3. Bonnar, D., Bartel, K., Kakoschke, N., & Lang, C. (2018). Sleep Interventions Designed to Improve Athletic Performance and Recovery: A Systematic Review of Current Approaches. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 48(3), 683–703. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-017-0832-x
4. Charest, J., & Grandner, M. A. (2020). Sleep and Athletic Performance: Impacts on Physical Performance, Mental Performance, Injury Risk and Recovery, and Mental Health. Sleep medicine clinics, 15(1), 41–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsmc.2019.11.005
5. Chauvineau, M., Pasquier, F., Poirier, C., Le Garrec, S., Duforez, F., Guilhem, G., & Nedelec, M. (2023). Higher training loads affect sleep in endurance runners: Can a high-heat-capacity mattress topper mitigate negative effects?. Journal of sports sciences, 41(17), 1605–1616. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2023.2285574
6. Cunha, L. A., Costa, J. A., Marques, E. A., Brito, J., Lastella, M., & Figueiredo, P. (2023). The Impact of Sleep Interventions on Athletic Performance: A Systematic Review. Sports medicine – open, 9(1), 58. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-023-00599-z
7. Dattilo, M., Antunes, H. K., Medeiros, A., Mônico Neto, M., Souza, H. S., Tufik, S., & de Mello, M. T. (2011). Sleep and muscle recovery: endocrinological and molecular basis for a new and promising hypothesis. Medical hypotheses, 77(2), 220–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2011.04.017
8. Fullagar, H. H., Skorski, S., Duffield, R., Hammes, D., Coutts, A. J., & Meyer, T. (2015). Sleep and athletic performance: the effects of sleep loss on exercise performance, and physiological and cognitive responses to exercise. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 45(2), 161–186. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-014-0260-0
9. Halson S. L. (2014). Sleep in elite athletes and nutritional interventions to enhance sleep. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 44 Suppl 1(Suppl 1), S13–S23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-014-0147-0
10. Kerksick, C. M., Arent, S., Schoenfeld, B. J., Stout, J. R., Campbell, B., Wilborn, C. D., Taylor, L., Kalman, D., Smith-Ryan, A. E., Kreider, R. B., Willoughby, D., Arciero, P. J., VanDusseldorp, T. A., Ormsbee, M. J., Wildman, R., Greenwood, M., Ziegenfuss, T. N., Aragon, A. A., & Antonio, J. (2017). International society of sports nutrition position stand: nutrient timing. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 14, 33. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-017-0189-4
11. Laborde, S., Hosang, T., Mosley, E., & Dosseville, F. (2019). Influence of a 30-Day Slow-Paced Breathing Intervention Compared to Social Media Use on Subjective Sleep Quality and Cardiac Vagal Activity. Journal of clinical medicine, 8(2), 193. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm8020193
12. Leeder, J., Glaister, M., Pizzoferro, K., Dawson, J., & Pedlar, C. (2012). Sleep duration and quality in elite athletes measured using wristwatch actigraphy. Journal of sports sciences, 30(6), 541–545. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2012.660188
13. Leproult, R., & Van Cauter, E. (2011). Effect of 1 week of sleep restriction on testosterone levels in young healthy men. JAMA, 305(21), 2173–2174. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2011.710
14. Luna-Rangel, F. A., Gonzalez-Bedolla, B., Salazar-Ortega, M. J., Torres-Mancilla, X. M., & Martinez-Cadena, S. (2025). Efficacy of blue-light blocking glasses on actigraphic sleep outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled crossover trials. Frontiers in neurology, 16, 1699303. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2025.1699303
15. Mah, C. D., Mah, K. E., Kezirian, E. J., & Dement, W. C. (2011). The effects of sleep extension on the athletic performance of collegiate basketball players. Sleep, 34(7), 943–950. https://doi.org/10.5665/SLEEP.1132
16. Mesas, A. E., Núñez de Arenas-Arroyo, S., Martinez-Vizcaino, V., Garrido-Miguel, M., Fernández-Rodríguez, R., Bizzozero-Peroni, B., & Torres-Costoso, A. I. (2023). Is daytime napping an effective strategy to improve sport-related cognitive and physical performance and reduce fatigue? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. British journal of sports medicine, 57(7), 417–426. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2022-106355
17. Milewski, M. D., Skaggs, D. L., Bishop, G. A., Pace, J. L., Ibrahim, D. A., Wren, T. A., & Barzdukas, A. (2014). Chronic lack of sleep is associated with increased sports injuries in adolescent athletes. Journal of pediatric orthopedics, 34(2), 129–133. https://doi.org/10.1097/BPO.0000000000000151
18. Nettersheim, A., Hallschmid, M., Born, J., & Diekelmann, S. (2015). The role of sleep in motor sequence consolidation: stabilization rather than enhancement. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 35(17), 6696–6702. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1236-14.2015
19. O’Donnell, S., Beaven, C. M., & Driller, M. W. (2018). From pillow to podium: a review on understanding sleep for elite athletes. Nature and science of sleep, 10, 243–253. https://doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S158598
20. Roberts, S. S. H., Teo, W. P., & Warmington, S. A. (2019). Effects of training and competition on the sleep of elite athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. British journal of sports medicine, 53(8), 513–522. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2018-099322
21. Sim, J. E., Leota, J., Mascaro, L., Hoffman, D., & Facer-Childs, E. R. (2023). Sleep patterns before and after competition: A real-world examination of elite athletes. Journal of sports sciences, 41(22), 2014–2026. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2024.2308960
22. Tempesta, D., Socci, V., De Gennaro, L., & Ferrara, M. (2018). Sleep and emotional processing. Sleep medicine reviews, 40, 183–195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2017.12.005
23. Walker, M. P., & Stickgold, R. (2006). Sleep, memory, and plasticity. Annual review of psychology, 57, 139–166. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.56.091103.070307
24. Walsh, N. P., Halson, S. L., Sargent, C., Roach, G. D., Nédélec, M., Gupta, L., Leeder, J., Fullagar, H. H., Coutts, A. J., Edwards, B. J., Pullinger, S. A., Robertson, C. M., Burniston, J. G., Lastella, M., Le Meur, Y., Hausswirth, C., Bender, A. M., Grandner, M. A., & Samuels, C. H. (2020). Sleep and the athlete: narrative review and 2021 expert consensus recommendations. British journal of sports medicine, bjsports-2020-102025. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2020-102025