You have probably noticed that when you get a good night’s sleep, you feel better the next day. Here at Natural Sleep Mattress Store in Asheville, we are big believers in the power of sleep to enhance performance. The sports world has figured it out now, too!
The experts at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute reported on a study (Mah et al. – 2011) where six athletes – in this case, basketball players – were told to sleep as much as they could. Scientists call that sleep extension – extending the number of hours you normally sleep. “Faster sprint times and increased free-throw accuracy were observed at the end of the sleep extension period. Mood was also significantly improved, with increased vigour and decreased fatigue (Mah et al., 2011).”
And it’s not just basketball players who benefit. The researchers also looked at the effects of sleep extension on competitive swimmers. In this case the time the athletes spent in the land of nod increased to 10 hours. Once again, improved performance was seen across the board, everything from the time it took the swimmers to complete a 15-meter sprint to their reaction time, turn time and mood.
The American Association of Sleep Technicians (AAST) points out that the two teams who competed in the World Series last year – the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs – both have sleep experts on their staffs.
Earlier this year the AAST, which bills itself as the Community for Sleep-Care Professionals, says the Boston Red Sox renovated their nap room at Fenway Park. Apparently, the project got a lot of media attention, which made napping for professional athletes seem like a new trend. But many pro athletes have been napping and finding other ways to get more sleep for quite a while.
“Although many sports fans think this is a new idea, the nap room for the Red Sox is not entirely a new phenomenon as they actually built it back in 2013. (It should be noted they went on to win the World Series that year!),” the AAST noted in a blog posts about old-school naps getting revamped for athletes. “The current nap room is just a refinement of their earlier designated sleep room with attention paid to individual player bedding and pillow preferences!”
You can be sure those star athletes are sleeping on some pretty luxurious mattresses. Asheville residents deserve the same kind of performance-enhancing sleep! If you’re looking for a new mattress that will help you be your best, we invite you to shop our incredible selection of natural and organic mattresses, including Kingsdown mattress sets and OMI organic mattresses.
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