Naps

S2E38: Impacts of Sleep Loss On Pain, Injury-Risk & Neurocognition w Norah Simpson, PhD

SEASON 2, EPISODE #38

Dr. Bubbs interviews Dr. Norah Simpson ,PhD from Stanford University School of Medicine to talk all things sleep. In this episode, Norah discusses why so many people and athletes still struggle with poor sleep quality and quantity despite all the emphasis on sleep in the last 5 years, as well as her recent paper, “Optimizing sleep to maximize performance: implications and recommendations for elite athletes”. She dives into how lack of sleep impacts pain tolerance, injury risk, risk of illness and even the potential effect of altitude training on sleep quality. Norah also shares the sleep roadblocks she sees most in athletes, her favourite tools and tactics to get sleep back on track, and where she sees the evolution of sleep research heading in the next decade. 

Summary of Episode

5:10 – Effects of sleep loss on neurocognitive performance

8:30 – Injury risk, illness susceptibility and sleep loss

11:30 – Altitude training and impacts on sleep

13:00 – Can you catch up on sleep?

15:00 – sleep loss on injury risk

18:00 – impact on altitude training on sleep

21:00 – Norah’s current athlete sleep study

25:45 – sleep tracking

30:00 – importance of sleep wind down routine

32:00 – Is watching TV better than an iPad at night?

35:30 – common athlete sleep roadblocks

39:00 – “Nappuccino” – good or bad?

  

About Dr. Norah Simpson PhD

Norah Simpson PhD is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Director of the Stanford Sleep Health and Insomnia Program (SHIP), with a clinical focus in psychology, behavioral sleep medicine and athlete well-being. Learn more at www.insomnia.stanford.edu.


Research Paper

Optimizing sleep to maximize performance: implications and recommendations for elite athletes

S2E26: Athlete Chronotypes: Performance & Coaching Implications w/ Dr. Michele Lastella PhD

SEASON 2, EPISODE #26

Dr. Bubbs interviews Dr. Michele Lastella, PhD to talk chronotypes and athletes. In this episode, Dr. Michele discusses the three main chronotypes and how athlete chronotype can impact performance. He also shares how athletes participating in a sport which suits their chronotype (e.g. morning type participating in a morning sport) are more likely to train and perform optimally, digs into whether athletes are unconsciously self-selecting morning or evening sports and why coaches should consider athlete chronotype when scheduling training and competition. Dr. Michele also shares sleep hygiene tips, how to adjust your chronotype and suggestions for winding down and upgrading sleep. 

About Dr. Michele Lastella PhD

Dr. Lastella is sleep researcher at the Appleton Institute for Behavioural Science at CQUniversity Adelaide, South Australia. Dr. Lastella has several research interests including sleep, recovery, sport psychology, psychological well-being and performance. Coming from an elite sporting background Dr. Lastella brings experience from both an athlete perspective as well as a researcher perspective. He has worked with several elite sporting organisations examining sleep, recovery, and performance. In the three years since completing his PhD in Psychology Michele has published twenty-eight international research papers (a majority as first-author), with two of these being amongst the most cited papers for 2014 and 2015 in the host publication, European Journal of Sports Science.  Follow Michele on Twitter.

Link to Research Papers

Sleeping to a Schedule: Does Chronotype Play a Part?

The Athlete Chronotype