7 Sleeping Tips for Student-Athletes
November 5, 2019
Henry Ford Health System
Many athletes seem to believe time spent not training is time wasted. But, on the contrary.
The time athletes spend resting and sleeping is actually just as important. Take the world’s best female skier, Mikaela Shiffrin, for example. Shiffrin reportedly not only sleeps nine hours each night, but naps at least an hour every day.
So, what does sleeping have to do with her success? When asleep, the body not only has time to recover, but the information that was taken in during the day goes from short-term memory and becomes long term.
“Being an elite athlete is a 24-hour profession, and sleep and recovery are integral to optimal performance,” says Meeta Singh, M.D., a sleep medicine specialist at Henry Ford Health System.
Here are seven tips to help your student athlete catch some Zzzs during the season:
1. Limit caffeine. Caffeine is a popular ingredient in many pre-workout drinks, and many athletes choose to use it for an energy boost. However, having caffeine late in the day may make falling asleep and staying asleep difficult. But, everyone reacts differently to caffeine, so athletes should try logging their intake to determine what time to stop consuming and how much is okay to consume.
2. Maintain a regular sleep schedule. The body has an internal clock that’s largely affected by environment. Going to bed and waking up at approximately the same time each day can add a natural rhythm to the body’s internal clock, which can cause people to feel more awake during the day and fall asleep easily at night.
3. Workout early. Often times, working out later in the day gives people a burst of energy that can keep them up late into the night. For example, exercising after 9 p.m. can boost body temperature, making sleep difficult. However, research shows morning workouts can help achieve deeper sleep, and working out in the afternoon can help reduce insomnia.
4. Unplug. Nothing can keep one up at night like a buzzing smartphone. Additionally, the blue light a phone emits may slow the production of melatonin, making sleep difficult. Advise your children to leave electronics out of reach while they’re sleeping. And as an added bonus: If their phone is their alarm, it will force them out of bed in the mornings.
5. Use essential oils. Essential oils have seen growing popularity in recent years, and this is in part because scent helps trigger memory. Oils can be diffused, rubbed on temples or drops can be spread on pillows. Popular oils for promoting sleep are lavender, valerian root and roman chamomile.
6. Focus on breathing. Focusing on breath can help steady heart rate and relax the body. A popular breathing technique is the 4-7-8 exercise, in which one inhales through the nose for four seconds, holds their breath for seven, and exhales for eight.
7. Keep it dark, cool and quiet. Having the right environment is an important part of falling asleep … and staying asleep.
Ultimately, when it comes to enhancing athletic performance, getting proper sleep, resting and recovering can be just as important as training or hitting the gym.
“Since sleep can modulate reaction time and accuracy, it’s important to ensure an athlete gets his or her Zzzs,” Dr. Singh says.
See also: Is Your Teen Sleep Deprived?
Want to learn more? Henry Ford Health System sports medicine experts are treating the whole athlete, in a whole new way. From nutrition to neurology, and from injury prevention to treatment of sports-related conditions, they can give your athlete a unique game plan.
Visit henryford.com/sports or call (313) 972-4216 for an appointment within 24 business hours.
5 Ways Acupuncture Can Enhance Athletic Performance
May 9, 2023
In the ancient Chinese medicine of acupuncture, thin needles are gently inserted into specific areas of the body, stimulating blood flow to speed the recovery of certain ailments.
It can be used as a treatment for everything from headaches and unbalanced hormones to joint pain and weakened immune systems. Acupuncture is also popular among athletes, as many of them incorporate it into their wellness regimens to stay in peak physical condition.
“Back in the day, athletes ate steak, smoked cigars and drank whiskey during the week and then played football on Sunday,” says Thomas Betts, a sports medicine acupuncturist with Henry Ford Health System. “But today, to improve their performance, athletes are attacking the body from every angle possible with diet, lifestyle and exercise. NBA players, for example, have talked about how acupuncture keeps them feeling their best.”
But you don’t have to be an NBA star to reap the benefits of acupuncture. Whether you’re a professional or student athlete, or you exercise and play sports for fun or to challenge yourself, here are ways acupuncture can boost your game:
- Acupuncture can help you recover more quickly from an injury. “If a muscle is torn, acupuncture won’t put it back together, but for sprains and strains, muscle soreness and tendonitis, acupuncture can decrease inflammation and speed the healing process,” says Betts.
- Acupuncture can reduce the need for “rest days.” If you just had an intense workout and your muscles are sore, getting acupuncture afterward can loosen the muscles and decrease soreness so you don’t have to take a day off to recuperate before training again.
- Acupuncture can improve flexibility, decrease muscle tension and increase muscle activation. “This is done with motor point acupuncture,” says Betts. “The motor point is where the brain attaches to the muscle via the motor nerve. By using needles to stimulate a motor point, it is like rebooting a phone or computer that isn’t working well: Motor point acupuncture is autoregulating, in that it can deactivate a tight muscle or reactivate an inhibited or weak muscle.”
- Acupuncture can provide immediate pain relief. “Some studies show that acupuncture can provide as much as, if not more pain relief than medication,” Betts says. “It differs for everyone, and it depends on what is being treated, but some people say they feel a difference right after a session, and others say they feel better about 20 to 30 minutes later.” Pain relief can last from a few hours to a few days.
- Acupuncture can help prevent injury. Because acupuncture can reactivate weak muscles and decrease muscle tension, it can also be used as a preventative measure against injury, Betts says. But you should always still stretch before and after exercising!
Learn more about acupuncture and other integrative medicine services at Henry Ford. To make an appointment, you can request one online or by calling 1-833-246-4347.
Thomas Betts, DOAM, RAc, is a certified sports acupuncturist with Henry Ford Health. He sees patients at the Henry Ford Center for Athletic Medicine in Detroit.