Lack Of Sleep

Academic Athletes Suffer Most

Numerous studies have concured over the years that the lack of sleep greatly impacts the overall performance of an athlete. When combined with a student athlete the bodies inability to restore lost energy properly is a critical success or shall we say failure to perform properly when called on to execute a command.

The brain is busy at work while at rest. In sleep, the body shuts itself down gradually in order to repair the energy and damage caused since the last deep sleep. When this is disrupted and the body suffers from lack of sleep then inflammation and overall body functionality will degrade.

This is far more harmful when combined with student athletes. Academics by itself are a stressfull load on the body/brain. When mixed with the needs for muscle repair and functionality then inflammation and thus dammage is enhanced. The body needs more sleep to repair under these conditions then when separate.

Depending on the age of the individual the body can respond to the loss of sleep more quickly but as age creeps in the body has less of a range to rapidly repair itself when deprived of proper sleep.

For years we heard of ahow President Bill Clinton operated the nations needs with litte more than 3-4 hours of sleep. This set off a wave of discussion swinging the repair period for the body at rest in opposite directions. Shows us what the true power of the President really can be. This was truly a one-off situation and perhaps misleading even for then President Clinton as his tenure in office did not end well politically or personally. Perhaps sleep deprived over all those years and with the stress of a world/nation it had the same effect as we see in Academic Athletes?

Sleep Deprivation Effects On Students

It is not uncommon across the College institutions to hear of stories about students going without sleep for two days at a time and the rolling into class to take a mid term or final exam. This is exactly the opposite of what the body needs to perform at optimum levels of efficiency.

But, try as we may, college kids are not going to listen. There are far too many distractions on campus to balance their study intake over time rather than attend the Games or Parties on campus in a trade-off for studying a chapter from a book or notes from a lecture.

We believe the incoming college freshman should be given a mandatory entry course on Nutritional eating and the importance of proper rest and exercise. Lack of sleep can take a top learner and put them squarely on their heels looking up at the class from the bottom of the grade curve if they practice this behavior over the 4-5 years of college life.