Basic Pursuits

Recent research on sleep is enough to give sleep experts insomnia.

Cheri Mah of the Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic and Research Laboratory reported that athletes who get extra sleep over an extended period of time improve performance.

“While this study focuses specifically on collegiate swimmers, it agrees with data from my other studies of different sports and suggests that athletes across all sports can greatly benefit from extra sleep and gain the additional competitive edge to perform at their highest level,” she said.

Perhaps this is explained by recovery. Fitness from exercise is totally dependent on the body's ability to recover from the stress caused by the exercise. That's what steroids do.

But wait!

Time reports that Daniel Kripke, co-director of research at the Scripps Clinic Sleep Center in La Jolla, Calif. said that people who sleep between 6.5 hr. and 7.5 hr. a night live longest.

Kripke declined to speculate why this is so, but said, "...we can prevent a lot of insomnia and distress just by telling people that short sleep is O.K."

Furthermore, "...spending less time in bed actually makes sleep better. It is in fact a more powerful and effective long-term treatment for insomnia than sleeping pills."

Extra Sleep Improves Athletic Performance

How Much Sleep Do You Really Need?