A Sleep Analysis of Elite Female Soccer Players During a Competition Week

Abstract

Purpose: (1) To compare the sleep of female players from a professional soccer team to nonathlete controls across an in-season week and (2) to compare the sleep of core and fringe players from the same team on the night after a match to training nights. Methods: Using an observational design, 18 professional female soccer players and 18 female nonathlete controls were monitored for their sleep via wristwatch actigraphy across 1 week. Independent-sample t tests and Mann–Whitney U tests were performed to compare sleep between groups, while an analysis of variance compared sleep on training nights to the night after a match. Results: Soccer players had significantly greater sleep duration than nonathlete controls (+38 min; P = .009; d: 0.92), which may have resulted from an earlier bedtime (−00:31 h:min; P = .047; d: 0.70). The soccer players also had less intraindividual variation in bedtime than nonathletes (−00:08 h:min; P = .023; r: .38). Despite this, sleep-onset latency was significantly longer among soccer players (+8 min; P = .032; d: 0.78). On the night after a match, sleep duration of core players was significantly lower than on training nights (−49 min; P = .010; d: 0.77). In fringe players, there was no significant difference between nights for any sleep characteristic. Conclusions: During the in-season period, sleep duration of professional female soccer players is greater than nonathlete controls. However, the night after a match challenges the sleep of players with more match involvement and warrants priority of sleep hygiene strategies.

Sleepiness among Professional, Semi Professional and Students Chinese Soccer Players in the Shanghai Lockdown

“…Despite the controversial literature about sleep disturbances in females' athletes [11,12,13,17] our results support the presence of a higher percent of sleepiness in female soccer players compared to males. This result is consistent with another study in Spanish professional football players performed during a lockdown, who showed men having better sleep quality than women during the isolation period [9].…”

“…There is some evidence among professional soccer players that males have a better sleep quality than women during the isolation period [9]. However, also in normal life conditions, sleep disturbances in females' soccer players has been only recently studied [5], showing a high incidence of sleep disturbance associated with the night pre-game [12] , post-game or post training [13] with a decrease in sleep time in those conditions . Female sleep has been shown also to be sensitive to menstrual cycle [14] which in turn affect arousal control, stress response, and memory consolidation [14].…”

What are the sleep characteristics of elite female athletes? A systematic review with meta-analysis

“…Across two seasons, basketball players experienced an 11% reduction in TST the night after doubleheaders compared to regular rounds of competition (p = 0.007) [ 48 ]. A recent study from Thomas et al [ 50 ] demonstrated that core (i.e. starting, n = 10) soccer players experienced later bedtimes on the night after a game (+ 37 min; p = 0.032) compared to training nights, alongside reduced sleep duration (−49 min; p = 0.010).…”

“…In addition to these findings, this study also compared the sleep of the soccer players (n = 18) to an age and sex matched non-athletic control group (n = 18) during a week encompassing the demands of training and competition. In this cohort, the soccer players had greater sleep duration than non-athletes (+38 min; p = 0.009), potentially due to their earlier bedtimes (−31 min; p = 0.047) [ 50 ].…”

“…Sleep disturbances and changes to sleep-wake patterns are evident following double-header rounds of competition [ 48 ], evening training [ 54 – 56 ], and following competition [ 50 ], especially evening competition [ 38 , 44 , 51 , 52 ]. In addition, female athletes may have reduced sleep durations compared to both non-athletic controls [ 50 ], and male athletes participating in the same sport [ 28 ]. In male athletes, research has demonstrated post-competition sleep loss can impair physiological, cognitive and perceptual recovery [ 67 ].…”