The effects of daytime naps for athletes 💤

A cheap and effective performance enhancer?

The effects of daytime napping on psychophysiological measures in physically active individuals and athletes: A systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression, with assessment of the certainty of evidence

Study Details

This new meta-analysis compiled data from 35 studies (489 athletes or active individuals) to establish the psychophysiological effects of daytime naps 🔍

Here is what they found ⬇️

Key Findings

⏱️ Nap duration ranged from 20 - 90 mins

⏰ Nap timing typically started between 12:30 - 15:00

Results for naps after normal sleep showed that napping led to significantly improved…

🧠 Mood score

🔋 Fatigue

💭 RPE

…both during and immediately after exercise.

It also led to significantly improved perceived recovery post-exercise 📈

There were no significant effects observed for…

❌ Sleepiness

❌ Muscle soreness

❌ Heart rate during exercise

❌ Core temperature

Results for naps after sleep deprivation showed no significant effects on sleepiness or fatigue 😴

Conclusion

Due to heterogeneity of protocols, more evidence is required for robust interpretations ‼️

However, at present napping offers a practical and cheap strategy to improve some aspects of physical performance ✅

Reference

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41668951/

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