Rest: The Overlooked Key to Better Athletic Performance

Athletes try to optimize their performance through different methods that enhance recovery. As we saw in a previous article, it is necessary to rehydrate, replenish, repair and restore through nutrition to optimize recovery. However, it is common to forget about a much more important pillar than the previous ones, rest. This rest would correspond to the fifth R of recovery strategies, from the English word rest [1].

Sleep is recognized as a critical element of post-exercise recovery. In this sense, adequate rest is essential to deal with acute fatigue after an exercise session, to adapt to the training program we are doing and to avoid the so-called overtraining syndrome [1,2].

What are the consequences of inadequate rest?

Athletes may experience short-term sleep disturbances due to travel, jet lag, unfamiliar sleeping environments, and pre-competition anxiety/nerves [1]. These sleep disturbances have negative consequences on physical performance, such as a reduced ability to execute technical or skillful gestures (e.g., jumping, throwing, etc.), reduced muscle power, and reduced ability to maintain athletic performance at high intensities [3]. In addition, it has consequences on cognitive performance such as reduced concentration, shorter reaction time, fine motor control or stability, reduced ability to make quick decisions or even mood alterations [3].

What should athletes do to improve their rest?

There are several useful strategies to boost sleep in athletes [4]. In this sense:

1. Amount of nighttime sleep: The appropriate range for adults is 7-9 hours. However, it is stipulated that athletes may need more hours of sleep depending on their training load.
2. Amount of daytime sleep (naps): Napping can supplement insufficient nighttime sleep.
3. Proper sleep hygiene: daily habits to maintain adequate sleep quality and be alert during the day. The main habits are: avoiding stimulants, alcohol and very large meals close to bedtime, having adequate exposure to natural light during the day, not lying in bed for extended periods, having an adequate relaxing routine before going to bed and having an adequate sleeping environment (cool, dark and quiet).
4. Sleep and training based on chronotypes: briefly, there are people with daytime chronotypes (greater energy and productivity in the morning, more fatigue in the afternoon-night) and others with nighttime chronotypes (greater energy and productivity in the evening). In this way, most athletes have daytime chronotypes, but those who have nocturnal chronotypes have poorer sleep quality. In this sense, it would be ideal to avoid training at a very early hour in the morning and at a very late hour in the evening to enhance rest.

Nutritional advice to improve rest

Another aspect that can boost sleep and improve rest is nutrition [5,6]. There are several nutritional recommendations for this:

1. Avoid drastic or sustained hypocaloric diets.
2. At dinner, before bed, eat carbohydrates and proteins and include foods rich in tryptophan (e.g., turkey or pumpkin seeds).
3. Avoid very large and high-fat dinners before going to bed (<1h).
4. Eat foods rich in antioxidants (e.g., berries).
5. Include supplements that can help improve rest, such as magnesium.

Advanced strategy: combining caffeine and napping

The combination of caffeine and napping has shown positive effects on performance in several studies [6,7]. In this sense, the protocol is simple, and its application can be useful in the event that you have a training/competition in the afternoon and need to rest. Caffeine exerts its effect of action on the 30-45min after ingestion. Therefore, the ideal would be to ingest the caffeine or coffee supplement, and just try to nap during 30-45min. In this way, when you wake up, the effect of caffeine will have begun and you will be able to obtain the corresponding benefits to perform the exercise or competition 1h after that intake/beginning of the nap.

Conclusion

In conclusion, rest is essential for performance and its optimization in athletes through all available strategies should be a line of intervention to be taken into account in all athletes.

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AUTHOR

Lucas Jurado Fasoli – Doctor of Biomedicine (UGR). Dietitian-Nutritionist. Postdoctoral researcher at the Joint University Institute of Sport and Health and Department of Physiology, University of Granada.

References

[1]       Peake JM. Recovery after exercise: what is the current state of play? Curr Opin Physiol 2019;10:17–26.

[2]       Nieman DC, Mitmesser SH. Potential impact of nutrition on immune system recovery from heavy exertion: A metabolomics perspective. Nutrients 2017;9.

[3]       Bonnar D, Bartel K, Kakoschke N, Lang C. Sleep Interventions Designed to Improve Athletic Performance and Recovery: A Systematic Review of Current Approaches. Sports Medicine 2018;48:683–703.

[4]       Walsh NP, Halson SL, Sargent C, Roach GD, Nédélec M, Gupta L, et al. Sleep and the athlete: Narrative review and 2021 expert consensus recommendations. Br J Sports Med 2021;55:356–68.

[5]       Halson SL. Sleep in elite athletes and nutritional interventions to enhance sleep. Sports Medicine 2014;44.

[6]      Mata Ordóñez F, Oliver AJS, Carrera Bastos P, Guillén LS, Domínguez R, Jesús A, et al. Sleep improvement in athletes: use of nutritional supplements. vol. 34. 2017.

[7]       Cunha LA, Costa JA, Marques EA, Brito J, Lastella M, Figueiredo P. The Impact of Sleep Interventions on Athletic Performance: A Systematic Review. Sports Med Open 2023;9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-023-00599-z.