Pillow Talk

Pillow Talk: Say yes to the sandman. Regular sleep can make the difference between winning and losing.

By John Rosengren

Say yes to the sandman. Regular sleep can make the difference between winning and loosing.

We all want more sleep. Only kids resist naps or going to bed early. But if your life is active or athletic, sleep is more than luxury. Increasingly, evidence suggests that a well-rested body performs more efficiently than a sleep-deprived one.

Anke Hüber found this out the hard way. A Top 20 tennis player at the 1999 Advanta Championships in Philadelphia, she was a clear favorite in a first-round match against 52^nd ranked Alexandra Stevenson. But delayed by a semifinal run in a tournament in Leipzig, Germany, Hüber didn’t arrive in Philadelphia until late the night before her match. Suffering from jet lag and a lack of sleep, she split two close sets but dropped the third 1-6. “I couldn’t move,” she recalls.

Hüber’s experience illustrates what the experts preach: Sleep is crucial to athletic performance. Rested, you feel on top of your game. Tired, you struggle with quickness, coordination, strength and reaction time–not to mention low energy. “Sleep affects your emotional, cognitive and physical functions–all factors enormously important in training and performance,” says Neil Kavey, M.D., director of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center’s Sleep Disorder Center in New York City.

Sleep is your body’s nightly tune-up. It helps rebuild muscle, restore strength and rejuvenate energy. Most of us need between eight and 8 ½ hours of z’s a night – even more for teenagers, whose added demands of adolescence mean they require up to nine hours of rest.

Of course, between busy schedules, nerves and traveling, you probably almost never get enough pillow time. More than half of adults between 18 and 29 say they wake up feeling unrefreshed, according to the National Sleep Foundation, and more than a third say they suffer from significant sleepiness during the day. As you age, the worse it seems to get: A 1998 NSF survey found that three quarters of women ages 30 to 60 averaged less than 6 ½ hours of sleep during a workweek.

No Snooze, You Lose

Casual about the amount of sleep you get? Consider this: You’re more likely to get injured when you’re sleep deprived, says Sue Robson, an exercise physiologist with the U.S. Ski Team. “Your concentration levels and reaction times are diminished.”

You’re also more susceptible to illness, since too little sleep can stress the body’s hormonal and metabolic functions and run down your immune system. Lack of shut-eye can even sabotage training habits, sapping your motivation, eroding your discipline and adversely affecting your mood. “Everything goes to much when I don’t get enough sleep,” says Cammi Granato, the caption of the 1998 U.S. women’s hockey team. “I start eating poorly and don’t drink enough water.”

Worse things happened to U.S. Alpine skier Alex Shaffer, who says she suffered several emotional lows related to lack of sleep. After adjusting her schedule to allow more time to rest, Shaffer says she not only felt better mentally, she also performed better on the slopes. “People don’t win because they’re physically stronger,” Shaffer says. “It’s because they’re stronger between the ears.”

Kavey agrees, “The well-rested person sustains attention better.”

Sleep Right

Of course, a good night’s sleep can’t guarantee peak performance, just as one restless night won’t doom you. The key is to maintain healthy rest patterns during training and for several nights before an event.

To determine what your optimal night’s sleep is, try seeing when you wake up without an alarm clock. (Remember, it can take several nights of extended snoozing to pay off any sleep debt, so give it a few days.) Jot down sleep patterns along with workout details and nutrition information in an exercise log to ascertain ideal levels; be sure to note when you have a stellar; or cellar, performance.

Also watch how you feel during waking hours. In the late afternoon, your body experiences a natural metabolic slowdown. If you’re well-rested, you’ll glide through it; if you’re sleep-challenged, you’ll want to nod off.

For many, the answer is the siesta. A 20- to 30-minute nap can help ease the sleep deficit. Athletes like Granato and Shaffer nap to restore energy. But if napping makes it more difficult to fall asleep at night, take a pass.

Getting enough sleep can give your game a winning edge. If nothing else, it give you time to dream of glory.

Flex Time

Before you begin your stretching routine, know these five essential facts about flexibility.

Admit it: Stretching is the first part of your workout to go when you’re pressed for time. It doesn’t seem as if it makes a difference.

Well, it does, the experts say. “Stretching is maintenance–it will keep you in the game longer,” says Phil Wharton, a musculoskeletal therapist based in New York and co-author of The Whartons’ Stretch Book. But not all stretches are the same. We’ve unfolded the truth–and some of it may surprise you.

Truth Number 1. If you only have a few minutes before working out, it’s better to warm up than to stretch.

The key to preventing sports injuries is to first warm up for about five to 10 minutes, says Len Kravitz, assistant professor of exercise science at the University of New Mexico. Light activity raises body temperature, warming your muscles, tendons and ligaments–which prepares your body for more strenuous exercise.

Truth Number 2. The best time to stretch is after a workout.

When you work up a sweat, your muscles are more relaxed, so you have the greatest range of motion, says Ian Shrier, a physician at SMBD Jewish General Hospital at McGill University in Montreal. If your sport requires a great deal of flexibility (for example, hurdling or gymnastics), you should stretch both before and after a workout. Gently stretching an injured area several times a day will help decrease pain and speed recovery, according to most physical therapists.

Truth Number 3. There is a right way to stretch.

The tongue-twisting proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (better known as PNF) is your best bet for increasing flexibility–but you’ll need a physical therapist, personal trainer or other expert to help you do it. PNF involves first contracting a muscle, then deeply stretching it.

A similar technique favored by runners such a Marion Jones and Regina Jacobs is Active-Isolated stretching. With this technique, you actively contract one muscle group (i.e., the quadriceps), which in turn naturally forces the complementary muscle group (in this case, the hamstrings) to relax. This momentary relaxation allows you to get a deeper stretch of that complementary muscle group. Done before a workout, this method increases blood flow through the muscles; postexercise it helps rid the body of lactic acid, says Wharton.

Simplest and safest of all is static stretching–moving slowly into stretch position and holding it. Most importantly, says Shrier, don’t bounce; that can increase tightness and cause muscle pulls.

Truth Number 4. Hold each stretch at least 15 seconds.

Slowly stretch into the target area until you feel the muscle pulling–without pain. Hold for a few seconds; if possible, gently increase the stretch a little further and continue to hold for up to 30 seconds. Breathe easily throughout the stretch.

Truth Number 5. Done wrong, stretching can be harmful.

Overstretching can cause muscle strain and bruising, usually because you are overextending. “Causing damage by overstretching could be a reason why some people never improve their flexibility despite stretching often,” says Shrier. If you feel pain, you’re pushing too far.

Sidebar:

Six Ways To Get To Slumber Land

Wait at least three hours after exercising before hitting the hay to give your body time to unwind, especially after competition.
Relax with a bath or a book before retiring. “Put some time between a hectic day and bed,” says Dr. Neil Kavey, director of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center’s Sleep Disorder Center. “Otherwise, it’s like trying to stop a four-ton bus in 50 feet.”
Go to bed at a regular time, even on weekends. Turning in at the same time each night–and waking up around the same time each morning–keeps your internal clock consistent.
Keep your bedroom at around 68˚–the ideal sleeping temp for most people, since body temperature drops at rest.
Make sleep a priority. Take pride in organizing your life so you get enough rest at night, says Kavey.
Bring your pillow with you on trips, says exercise physiologist Sue Robson. That’s a trick that works for the U.S. Ski Team. “If you’re traveling a lot, it really helps to sleep on something familiar.”

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