Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
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Date of Graduation
Spring 2019
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science (BS)
Department
Department of Kinesiology
Advisor(s)
Trent A. Hargens
Nicholas D. Luden
Christopher J. Womack
Abstract
Purpose: Sleep is essential for bodily recovery and is especially important for athletes who will sustain high volumes of muscle damage. Many athletes struggle to get enough sleep, particularly the night prior to competition for a variety of reasons. Long term sleep deprivation has definitively shown negative effects on athletic performance; however, little is known about the effect of a single night of reduced sleep.Methods: Complete data was gathered on nine subjects. Following VO2max testing and a familiarization trial, subjects performed two experimental trials that concluded with simulated 3- km time trials on a cycle ergometer: one the morning following normal sleep and another following a night of restricted sleep, in a randomly assigned order. Results: There was no significant difference between restricted and normal sleep for average power output (p=.278), peak power output (p=.625), and time trial finish time (p=.507). Though not statistically significant, sleep restriction resulted in a 10.5 second (2.85%) faster finishing time, with 5 of 8 subjects finishing faster in those conditions. Conclusion: There were no significant changes observed in performance under normal sleep versus sleep restricted conditions. A potential mechanism for the slightly faster finish times observed under sleep restricted conditions is that sleep inertia hindered performance after normal sleep due to the proximity of testing to wake time. Further research is needed to improve statistical power, and better explore the effects of sleep inertia.
Recommended Citation
Lickers, Lindsay, "The effect of one night of sleep restriction on aerobic exercise performance" (2019). Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019. 693.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/honors201019/693
