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Sleep

  • Psychological Services
  • Sports Medicine

Sleep is a foundational element of well-being and performance, yet data show that elite athletes often struggle to maintain consistent, healthy sleep due to many factors. Travel, competition stressors, heavy training loads and early or late training times along with other life disruptions are common barriers. To support and empower Team USA athletes to improve their sleep quality and consistency, the USOPC created the Sleep Working Group, an interdisciplinary team of clinicians and service providers to develop and share relevant information and resources.

Sleep and Elite Athletes#

  • An alarm clock on a bedside table

    Sleep Basics

    Why Sleep?

    Sleep is a critical homeostatic function of human physiology that supports recovery, development, wellbeing and performance. Individual sleep needs vary and change across the lifespan, but it is a critical part of physical and mental health. Poor quality or inadequate duration of sleep can impact immune functioning, metabolism, cell repair, learning and memory consolidation, focus, decision making, reaction time, mood, and performance.


    How much sleep?

    Individual sleep needs vary. They also change across the lifespan. There is no one size fits all for a recommended dose of sleep so it’s important you know your individual needs. Most adults need somewhere in the 7-9 hours range, whereas most adolescents typically need more, roughly in the 8-10 hour range. Elite Athletes often struggle with inadequate sleep (<7 hours nightly) and poor quality sleep due to individual and environmental factors (travel, training times, competition stressors). If you notice you fall asleep as your head hits the pillow, that may be an indicator that you are not allowing an appropriate window for sleep.

  • Red stadium running track

    Sleep and Performance

    Sleeping your best can have powerful performance enhancing effects. Research shows an association between sleep quality and:

    • Aerobic endurance
    • Maximum force production
    • Speed
    • Motor skill execution
    • Perceived exertion
    • Reaction time
    • Decision making
    • Ability to cope with stress

    When sleep is disrupted, these same things may become impaired. But short-term sleep loss doesn’t automatically lead to poor performance. If you've been sleeping well in the days leading up to a competition or travel, your body and brain are surprisingly resilient. That’s why banking sleep (getting extra rest ahead of a stressful period) is a smart strategy for elite athletes.

  • The moon snores and wears a sleeping hat against a blue backdrop under the clouds and stars.

    Setting Up Good Sleep

    Help your body prepare for sleep with the following recommendations:

    • Do your best to maintain a consistent sleep schedule with adequate time in bed
    • Establish a regular evening wind-down routine before bed that avoids activities that are physically, mentally, or emotionally stimulating. Engage in stress-reduction techniques such as meditation or slow paced breathing.
    • Avoid caffeine within 8 hours of bedtime.
    • Avoid large meals within 3 hours of bedtime, specifically foods with high fat or protein content, which can slow digestion and raise core body temperature.
    • If training late at night, help lower your core body temperature with a warm shower before bed.
  • A sleep mask and alarm clock with clouds and stars against a light blue backdrop

    Napping

    If you’re struggling to get enough sleep at night, a well-timed nap can boost your energy, focus, and performance.

    • A 20–30 minute nap can boost alertness and reaction time while minimizing grogginess.
    • A 60–90 minute nap can promote deeper recovery and tissue repair, but you may want to build in extra time to fully wake up afterward.
    • The early afternoon is the best time to nap (1–4 PM) as napping too late in the afternoon can interfere with nighttime sleep.
    • Naps are particularly helpful before evening training or competition as they may enhance sprint performance, endurance, and decision-making.
    • If you feel groggy after napping, bright light, physical activity, and caffeine can help.
    • Use naps as needed to help you adjust to new time zones when traveling. Be sure not to nap too long (<90 mins) or too late (wake up before 4 p.m.).
    • Try napping if your sleep is disrupted leading up to competition/travel. It can help your immune system and prevent illness.
    • If you plan to nap on competition day, practice on training days so you know how it will impact your performance.

    See resource handout available for download in the Handouts section.


Myth Busting#

  • Myth #1: I need 8 hours of sleep to feel refreshed and function well during the day.

    Many factors beyond total sleep time impact how “refreshed” you feel and how well you function during the day. Sleep quality is a key factor. Also, waking up at the peak of your lighter sleep stages (e.g., REM, Stage 2 non-REM) will result in less difficulty awakening (i.e., sleep inertia) compared to waking up from deeper, slow-wave sleep. Other factors impacting how you feel during the day include nutrition, hydration, training load, recovery, stress, emotional and social well-being, and environmental factors, such as noise, temperature, and lighting. It’s easy to discount the role of these factors in our daily functioning and fixate on sleep. Think back... are there times when you’ve slept 8 hours or more and felt sluggish or fatigued during training? Conversely, have you ever slept less than 7 or even 6 total hours and still performed well in competition? Getting enough hours of sleep is generally important for performance, but one night of poor sleep is rarely enough to derail your performance when you have adrenaline on your side and good sleep banked from prior nights.

  • Myth #2: When I don't get proper amount of sleep on a given night, I need to catch up on the next day by napping or on the next night by sleeping longer.

    Our sleep is more robust and resilient than many of us realize. If we get poor sleep, we don’t necessarily need to nap the next day or go to sleep earlier to make up for it. Our sleep has a homeostatic mechanism, meaning it self-corrects. After a night of poor sleep, incorporate a nap if that is typical for your routine, but rest assured your brain recognizes that you need more, so it adjusts to make sure you get the sleep you need over time. Instead of napping or needing to sleep longer immediately, your brain will naturally prioritize deeper, more restorative sleep the night following poor sleep (and potentially for multiple nights). If you tend to have difficulty falling or staying asleep, it may be particularly important to avoid napping or going to bed significantly earlier the night following poor sleep. Simply let the homeostatic function of your sleep do its job. Otherwise, you may be cutting into your sleep drive, making it harder to fall asleep the next night.

  • Myth #3: After a poor night’s sleep, I know that it will interfere with my activities the next day.

    While it’s true that poor sleep can impact our functioning or performance the next day, it’s often not as catastrophic or global as we imagine. Typically, if well rested, one night of poor sleep will impact your mood first, rather than your decision making or physical performance. So you can still perform your best, it just may feel more difficult or uncomfortable. Our bodies and brains are resilient, and we have coping mechanisms to deal with occasional sleep disruptions. When we pre-emptively conclude that poor sleep from last night will interfere with our day, it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. In other words, we find what we are looking for and may be hypervigilant to small mistakes during the day (e.g., missing direction in training or forgetting something in your room) and attribute them to poor sleep. Really, we make small mistakes all the time regardless of sleep.

Planning for Travel#

  • Circadian rhythm icon. The human head is in the center with the hands of a clock. Arrows rotate around the head from morning to night.

    Jet Lag

    Before You Leave:

    When you cross multiple time zones, gradually shifting your sleep schedule (30-60 min/day to match your destination) before departure and optimizing light exposure can help your body adjust more smoothly to a new time zone. Apps: Time Shifter


    During the Trip:

    While on the plane, staying hydrated, minimizing caffeine and alcohol, and using sleep aids (such as eye masks and noise-canceling headphones) can improve sleep during flights. Consider compression socks or tights to improve circulation and wear comfortable, loose fitting clothes in layers if you intend to sleep.


    When You Arrive:

    Prioritizing sunlight exposure, short naps (20-90 minutes between 1 and 4pm), and structured training sessions help reset your internal clock and accelerate adaptation to the new time zone.


  • World map with airplanes flying patterns

    Travel Fatigue

    Athletes are increasingly required to travel frequently for competition resulting in travel fatigue and increased vulnerability to illness prior to performance.

    Travel fatigue is the result of the acute or cumulative psychological, physiological and physical effects of repetitive travel across a season.

    When traveling frequently and/or across long distances the goal is to minimize physiological strain and vulnerability to illness as well as to maximize performance.

  • Performance Impact

    The sleep disruption and misaligned sleep schedules from long haul or frequent plane travel can impair muscle recovery, reaction time, and cognitive function, all potentially decreasing performance if not managed well. Building in time prior to departure to preserve (or extend) your sleep can help mitigate the impact and build resilience to illness.

Handouts#

  • Napping

    Download, opens in a new tab

  • Consensus Sleep Diary

    Download, opens in a new tab

  • Sleep Foundations

    Download, opens in a new tab

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)#

Resources#

USOPC Sleep Working Group#

Thank you to the individuals dedicating their expertise and time to the USOPC Sleep Working Group.

    • Travis Anderson, PhD
    • Jessica Bartley, PsyD
    • Sally Baumann, BHSc(Nutr), Mdiet
    • Geoff Burns, PhD
    • Emily Clark, PsyD
    • Mike Clark, PhD
    • Karen Cogan, PhD
    • Amber Donaldson, DPT
    • Jim Doorley, PhD
    • Natalia Galan-Lopez, PhD
    • Sam Gardner, MS, MSc, MSc
    • Lex Gidley, PhD
    • Michael Grander, PhD
    • Atul Malhotra, MD
    • Mo Merritt