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Fatigue Science mention on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada

During the first intermission of Monday’s playoff hockey game between the Pittsburg Penguins and New York Rangers, the subject of CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada turned to playoff fatigue. Rangers coach Alain Vigneault was questioned on the subject of fatigue following Sunday’s game loss to Pittsburg to which he called attention to his goalie: “He was on top of his game, he wasn’t tired.” Vigneault stated, “If he’s not tired, nobody else should be.”

Addressing the topic, CBC Sports host Ron MacLean calls attention to Fatigue Science and our work with a couple of pro sport teams.

For athletes sleep is about more than just winning a game

 

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We often talk about the importance of managing athletes sleep and schedules to optimize a professional athlete’s performance at game time, but the less immediate benefits of ensuring players are rested can be seen in the length of their careers and likelihood of health-issues or injuries.

Yes, a strategically rested basketball player will be 9.3% more likely to make that three-point shot at the buzzer and a baseball player more likely to swing at the right time to hit that fastball – but there is evidence to show that athletes who pay attention to sleep suffer less injuries and have longer careers.

A study conducted at the University of California looked at whether over-scheduling and lack of sleep contributed to injuries in youth athletes and concluded that fatigue-related injuries were related to sleeping less than 6 hours the night before a game. Additionally, the study concluded that a number of factors, including activity volume, intensity, sleep time and recovery time should be considered in order to optimize the player safety when scheduling sporting events. Another study, conducted by sleep researcher Dr. Christopher Winter, examined the fatigue levels of NFL and MLB players and found a relation between athlete sleepiness and career longevity in both leagues.

When an athlete is not getting sufficient sleep, the effects on personal performance and health are threefold: First, fatigue affects reaction time, making a tired athlete slower to react to a potential hit on the ice or the field. Second, fatigue affects the body’s immune system, making players more susceptible to bouts of illness. Third, shorter sleep periods do not provide the body with sufficient time to regenerate cells and repair the abuse from workouts and games. Over time, game-earned injuries, health issues and the inability to fully recover can wear on an athlete and contribute to early retirement or career-ending injuries and performance failure.

In professional sports, season’s are lengthy and require careful planning to manage an athlete’s performance to reduce mid or end season fatigue. Including the post-season, NHL players can expect to play up to 34 weeks out of the year. It’s not much better for NBA, MLB and NFL players who, respectively, can see up to 32, 30, and 20 weeks of action in a season. Even Tiger Woods was fatigued by the end of this year’s PGA season.

For optimal sport performance and fatigue mitigation, it’s not just about how long you sleep, it’s also about when you sleep and how well you sleep. Factor in the long professional sport season, team travel and practice, and scheduling sleep to maximize the performance of a team or athlete becomes a complicated endeavour – but one that team management should examine for both the short and longer term performance of their athletes.

Check out this blog post to see which professional athletes are currently making sleep a priority.

Vancouver Canucks’ GM Mike Gillis talks about fatigue and travel schedules

The Vancouver Canucks have a tough road schedule this year. Appearing on Team 1040 President and General Manager of the Canucks, Mike Gillis outlined their fatigue management plan for the year. At Fatigue Science we have been providing sleep and fatigue technology and services to the Canucks for the past 5 seasons. The results speak for themselves. Using our fatigue management system the Canucks have a road record that is the envy of the NHL, particularly the west coast teams. After more than 40 years the Canucks, using our system, lead the entire NHL in road wins.

In all sports, travelling is fatiguing but travelling from West to East is the worst kind of travel. It robs players of valuable sleep and slows their reaction time. Mike Gillis points out that our fatigue management system can keep players above 90% effectiveness and improve player reaction time. It’s a matter of gathering the best scientific sleep and fatigue data using our ReadiBands and applying travel solutions to give players the opportunity to sleep when they need to. Teams and athletes in all sports are beginning to realize the competitive advantage great sleep gives them.

Source:  Team 1040 radio interview with the BRO JAKE SHOW