Why does Sleep matter for athletes?
How I optomise my sleep using a WHOOP band.
Sleep is essential for the body to recover from strenuous activity.
Sleep is essential for the body to recover. When we don’t get enough sleep, we are more likely to have problems with our mood, concentration, memory, and physical health.
Sleep is also important for the body to repair and rejuvenate itself. When we sleep, our bodies produce growth hormones that help us grow and recover from injuries.
The National Sleep Foundation recommends that adults get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night. The exact number of hours you need to sleep can be lower or higher depending on your individual needs.
A lack of sleep can lead to impaired performance the next day.
If you’re like most people, you likely hit the hay at a reasonable hour each night. But for some, a lack of sleep can lead to impaired performance during the day. The CDC has shown that roughly a third of Americans don’t get the recommended minimum 7 hours of sleep.
If you’re not getting the sleep you need, your body will start to suffer. Here are a few ways getting more sleep has been shown to improve performance:
- Basketball players that had 10 hours of sleep were tested and their performance improved. The players increased their speed during court sprints and their shooting for both three-point shot and free-throws improved. Another important factor is that players self-reported feelings of improved mental and physical well-being.
- Swimmers who increased their sleep time to 10 hours saw interesting improvements to performance. They were able to get off the starting blocks faster, their speed on turns was increased and the swimmers’ kicks became more efficient. Reaction times off diving blocks were faster, turn times were improved, and kick strokes increased. Times swimming a 15-metre sprint also improved. Additionally, these athletes experienced improved mood and decreased daytime sleepiness and fatigue.
- Varsity tennis players who go at least 9 hours a week also performed better. Improvements in serving accuracy from about 36% to nearly 42% was seen. This is significant in the sport of tennis.
There are many ways to get a good night’s sleep.
- Sleep in a dark room. Your circadian rhythm, which governs your sleep-wake cycle, is heavily influenced by light exposure. Our modern world, with all of its technology and light sources is making it difficult to sleep in complete darkness. Your melatonin production can be impaired by light exposure. This will most certainly have negative side effects on your sleep. It goes without saying that you need blinds or curtains that block out light. Instead of blackout curtains you can also get use an eye mask. I personally use a silk eye mask by Alaska Bear.
- Put away your electronics at least 60 minutes before bed. I know you are going to hate me saying this but you need to put away your phone, laptop, tablet etc. I have started sleeping with my phone in another room and I am certain it has improved my sleep. If you have to use your electronics before bed I urge you to use Nightshift if you use Apple products, Twilight an app for Android and f.lux for your PC.
- Avoid caffeine and nicotine. As you may well know, these are stimulants. Caffeine has a halflife of 6 or 7 hours, and a quarter life of 12 hours. This means if you have a cup of coffee at 12pm, a quarter of the caffeine is still active in your system by midnight. One of the hardest things I did was reduce my coffee consumption. I used to drink 5 or 6 cups of coffee a day. I now drink one or two cups a week (only on weekends).
- Sleep in a cool environment. You may be surprised to hear that your room needs to be 16 to 18℃ (61 to 65℉) for an optimal night’s sleep. With energy prices increasing, it is becoming more difficult to give budget friendly tips on cooling your room. If you can use air conditioning that is great. If not, perhaps buying the appropriate bedding materials, cooling pillows and a bedside fan are all options you can explore.
Tracking Your Sleep and Recovery With WHOOP.
I have been using my Whoop 3.0 to optimise my performance and recovery since January 2020. I want to be able to give my honest opinion on what this fitness wearable can and can’t do and why I continue to use it to track my sleep which improves my performance in the gym.
What I love about the Whoop Band 3.0:
- It is able to automatically track your activity and strain. To be clear there are some prerequisites that are required for this feature to work. As per the Whoop website:
In order for an activity to be detected, it must meet the following requirements:
- 15 minutes of continuous elevated heart rate.
- A Strain resulting in 8 (or higher) for the duration of the Activity.
- Activity Detection is toggled On in your app (located in the Menu under Activity Detection, default setting is On).
Those of you that are not familiar with how Whoop defines strain, and how it works, can find more information here.
2. Sleep tracking
One of the first things I noticed about the Whoop band is that you do need to get used to wearing it. Like any wearable it takes a few days to forget that it’s on your wrist. Once you get past this phase, the Whoop band is completely unnoticeable. This is a huge benefit considering that you will want to sleep with it on to track sleep. Your Whoop band will collect data over the course of days, weeks, and months. This enables you to see the big picture trends. For me this has helped me identify what affects my sleep and to be more consistent with my sleep.
3. No distractions
I understand that some people like the fact their wearable pings them every 5 minutes with updates and notifications. I, on the other hand, like the fact that the Whoop 3.0 doesn’t alert me to messages and updates. Unlike an Apple or Samsung watch, it isn’t integrated with all that “noise”. I like the fact that my focus isn’t being drawn to my wrist when I am working or training. I know that many of you will be shouting: “Just turn off your notifications!” Maybe I have a problem, but simply not having the temptation is a huge benefit. Francis Bacon said: “Opportunity makes the thief.” I wholeheartedly agree with this when it comes to technology and its power to steal our attention.
4. Weight, size, and comfort.
The Whoop 3.0 is lightweight, small (coming from someone with tiny wrists) and amazingly comfortable once you get used to wearing it. I’m very picky when it comes to wearables. I’m someone who sweats quite a bit and I don’t like thick and/or heavy straps. The Whoop band’s strap is called a ProKnit band. It is super lightweight and extremely durable. I have not needed to change the strap and I have had mine for almost 3 years now. An anecdote that I would like to share is that I forget that I am wearing my Whoop band when I am training. On the other hand, pun intended, I have to remove my wrist watch because I can feel the sweat as I am training. The Whoop 3.0 is honestly the most comfortable wearable I have ever worn.
5. It’s waterproof!
The final feature that I really like about the Whoop 3.0 is that it is waterproof. I personally take it off when I shower because I don’t like the feeling of the wet band on my wrist (as I said I am picky about my wearables). The big benefit of this feature is for swimmers, triathletes or any other athletes that need a wearable that can be worn for water-based events. A word of warning, if you do get a Whoop Band, the charger is not waterproof. Make sure you remove it before jumping into the water.
Improvements that could be made:
- A display.
You can’t see the time or the battery percentage (there is a way to check the battery level by double tapping the Whoop and checking the LEDs on the side) by simply looking at your device. The one upside of not having a display is that your battery goes a bit further. You do have access to the battery status on the mobile phone app. So perhaps here, Whoop is relying on the fact that we use and check our smartphones non-stop. I personally don’t mind that there is no display, but I know for some people this may be a frustration.
2. No GPS tracking.
At first this feature wasn’t a concern for me because I wasn’t interested in running. Over the last few months I have started running as part of my health routine and I have to run with my phone for its GPS feature. This is a bit of a pain and it was a feature I was hoping Whoop would add for the new 4.0 band. Unfortunately Whoop decided against adding this feature to its newest wearable.
3. The charging process.
While having a portable charging pack is great for convenience, there is one major downside that I found. The charger only holds enough power to charge your Whoop up once before it too needs to be charged. If you are using the band while you are charging it your band will not fully charge as a result. Another downside is that it charges the Whoop band very slowly. So, think again if you want to charge it quickly before you do some exercise. It’s not all bad news though, as my Whoop band only needs to be charged every 5 or 6 days. The battery life seems to have been consistent for more than 2 years now,
4. Swimmers may need to purchase an additional band.
I am not a huge fan of the swimming pool, but I have done a few laps with the Whoop 3.0 on my wrist. I noticed that the band flips on my wrist (meaning that the band cannot track your strain). The solution to this was Whoop releasing a swimming band that you put over the band at an additional cost to their users. I find this extremely cheeky. Expecting people to pay extra for a bug in their product feels wrong to me. So if you are a swimmer this is an extra concern for you.
5. The membership fee.
This is probably my biggest issue with the Whoop band. I have to pay €30 every month to have access to the full array of features. This seems a little extreme considering I am going to want to use the band for a lifetime. The amount of money I will have to fork out to pay to Whoop is massive. I have already spent €960 ($940) on membership at the time of writing this article. While I understand that in order for their business to grow and improve they need revenue, I would also like to see some kind of benefit for long standing members of the Whoop band.
Should you get a Whoop band?
This is really going to depend on your needs. We all vary in terms of the outcomes we want to achieve from health and fitness. I do think the Whoop is aimed more at serious athletes who are trying to maximise their performance and recovery. So if you are a casual fitness lover, perhaps this isn’t the item for you.
That being said I still use my Whoop 3.0 every single day because tracking data and trends for me is something I have always loved. It helps me to manage my daily strain and recovery. These features allow me to optimise my workouts by ensuring I am getting enough sleep to recover from my runs and workouts.
