Take a look around any college football field and the levels of skill between each player will most certainly be very different. Something that will remain constant is the physique of the players though. This is something which is a prerequisite of the sport and without the correct body, any player looking to make a break in the sport really is on a hiding to nothing.
This is something that Jack Elway knows all about, having played at the very highest level for a number of years.
Something that is often misunderstood about this sport is what is needed to get into said physical condition. While nutrition and of course a solid training regime are crucially important, something that often slips under the radar is your sleeping pattern. In short, far too many of us don’t get enough sleep, and Elway says this is a huge problem for a professional athlete.
Bearing this in mind, let’s now take a look at some sleep suggestions you can bear in mind in a bid to improve this element of your lifestyle.
Make it your priority to sleep more than six hours a night
In truth, the amount of time you sleep every night should be much longer than six hours, but it’s at this point that an interesting study enters the equation.
It was found that individuals who sleep less than six hours per night actually have the same reaction time levels as someone who has 0.05% of alcohol in their blood level. Considering the fact that this level is enough to get you pulled over by the police for driving under the influence, it’s certainly something that will affect your performance on-the-field significantly.
The power of napping
Naps aren’t something which are commonplace in every country, but those that do embrace it swear by the results.
From an athlete’s perspective, one only has to take a look at Mo Farah to see how napping boosted his performance. He revealed that he took an afternoon nap when he moved his training camp abroad, to a climate which experienced much more daytime sunshine.
Following the Farrah example, the benefits are quite clear for all to see.
Blue light warnings
This is something you might have read in the past, but its importance means that it most certainly should be reiterated.
While mobile phones have transformed the way in which we approach modern-day life, from a sleep perspective they wreak havoc with us. Every time you use your phone, it will emit blue light. This blue light is quite important, as from the perspective of your brain it mimics the natural light that we are used to seeing during the day.
This means that if you turn to your phone just before going to sleep, you are immediately telling your brain that its daylight. This causes all sorts of hormones and chemicals to be released in your body – all of which signal to your brain that you should be waking up, and not sleeping. Suffice to say, it impacts the quality of your sleep emphatically.