A report from CentralMaine.com examines the impact of sleep and sleep deprivation on the performance of young student athletes.
Regardless of their sport, athletes want to continuously improve their performance. More and more of our young athletes are training year-round for one sport, with many of them overlapping with other sports throughout the year. Top that off with work, academics and a social life, and there is not much time left for sleep.
But sleep is critical. In 2012, one study found teens sleeping at least eight hours per night had a 68 percent lower risk of being injured than those sleeping less than eight hours. This sleep deprivation correlates directly with athletes suffering overuse- and fatigue-related injuries (stress fractures, tendinopathies, myofascial pain).
