The All-Star point guard Steve Nash is 37 and knows that decline may come fast at his age. But his solution is not to increase his conditioning or to lift more weights. Instead, he plans to increase his naptime, seizing on an element of N.B.A. life as common as a 3-point shot.
Nash is among a great majority of N.B.A. players who swear by their pregame nap. Most are interested in its restorative benefits, although a few may just be trying to counter boredom. Whatever the reason, balls stop bouncing and shoes stop screeching every afternoon.
“Everyone in the league office knows not to call players at 3 p.m.,” said Adam Silver, the league’s deputy commissioner. “It’s the player nap.”
I have wondered if your body recovers any amount while awake, or does all recovery come during sleep? Obviously you can refill some glycogen stores while awake but does tissue repair require the chemicals released during sleep?
Hard for the Jand and Joe SixPacks to do just this at “work” or at home when kids/dogs or other social responsibilities are knocking.
Many Chinese offices and factories will shut off the lights after lunch and have workers nap for 30-60 minutes. Wonderfully restorative and improves productivity.
The All-Star point guard Steve Nash is 37 and knows that decline may come fast at his age. But his solution is not to increase his conditioning or to lift more weights. Instead, he plans to increase his naptime, seizing on an element of N.B.A. life as common as a 3-point shot.
I take a 20 minute nap in the afternoon quite often on work days. I’ve been saying for years its beneficial to your health and well being. Of course I work out of a home office so its easy for me.
I worked in the Philippines for a while and most folks had a pillow at their desk. Immediately after lunch, most people would get about 15 minutes of shut eye. I did it as well. Led to amazingly productive afternoons.
Definitely, and clinically proven.
Im actually sitting in my psychology class right now and actually just covered this topic. The recomended nap time is 20-30 minutes in regard to the average person looking to increase mood. Anything more is counterproductive due to the fact that you enter into deeper stages of sleep after this point and upon waking, your body will react with drowsiness and want to go back to sleep. This explains the feelings of sluggishness after a 30-1 1/2 hr nap. However, if you are an athlete, then you are not taking a nap in order to increase your mood but rather to increase recovery. Recovery starts in the deeper stages of sleep and begins after 20-30 minutes. The recommended time of sleep for an athlete is 30min. to an 1hr & 30min. During these deeper levels of sleep the body begins to recover by releasing HGH.
While flying an airline trip (long ago and far away) we had a guy from NASA and a guy from Stanford Sleep Center test us for reaction time before and after a nap.
They attached electroencephalograph wires under our scalp with needles and glued them on - running the umbilical cord down the back or our shirt to a small recording device to monitor our brain waves.
Then periodically during the trip we would take a reaction test on a small calculator - punching a key when a light appeared at random.
We would take a half hour nap or so (long USA to Asia trip) and get tested some more. When we arrived we would go to the hotel and use acetone to dissolve the glue and pull out the needles.
The test was sponsored by our airline, Northwest, the FAA, and our union, ALPA.
The results showed napping had a positive effect but naps were vetoed because of public concern if pilots were know to be napping.
What is the recommended nightly sleep for an athlete?Probably more than I get.
But as far as napping goes, DEFINITELY. My schedule is haphazard as far as requirements, and while I always get up at the same time (5:30-5:40, depending on whether I’m taking a morning shower or not), often I find myself going to bed much later than would be ideal, getting only 4-6 hours/sleep a night at least 2x times a week. Taking a 90 minute nap the next day in the middle of the day does wonders for me. I’m just lucky I have that time for recovery!
What is the recommended nightly sleep for an athlete?
well for the avg. American it is at least 7 hours, so I would say at least 8-9?
I try my best to get the 7 and will take a short nap when I get home from work while the kids have their downtime before I start dinner. That seems to work well and doesn’t interfere with my nighttime sleep.
The legend is that Induain slept 11 hours a night during his 5-year streak of Tour wins.
I believe it. The night after a long ride, feels like I can sleep forever. 12 hours? No problem. Early Sunday rides have historically been a problem for me because of riding long/hard on Saturdays.
If I could take an hour out of work in the middle of the day, I’d take a 30 minute nap every day. Just takes too long to get to sleep and get back to readiness to do that.
