Earlier this year, the U.S. Council for Athletes’ Health and OWN IT met to share & discuss emerging methods to scale impact on student-athlete health, safety, and well-being. By educating athletes on topics like sleep, recovery, and incorporating actionable performance data, institutions can improve student-athlete health and performance without adding more to their busy schedules.
Dr. Chad Asplund, Executive Director at USCAH, emphasized the significance of sleep in recovery, stating, “Sleep is the most crucial recovery tool we have.” Despite athletes having training and nutrition plans, not many have a recovery plan in place. A lack of sleep can lead to an increased risk of injury and negatively impact key performance indicators such as endurance, reaction time, ability to tolerate harsh conditions, accuracy, and growth hormone secretion. By incorporating sleep measurement and sleep quality improvement strategies, coaches can help their athletes stay healthy and perform at the highest levels.
The demanding schedules of NCAA D1 athletes leave limited time for rest and recovery. On average, they spend 86 hours a week on school and sports, leaving only 80 hours for day-to-day activities and sleep. To optimize recovery, Justin Roethlingshoefer, Chief Performance Officer at OWN IT, suggests coaches utilize habit recommendations that drive HRV adaptation, intended to increase a student athlete’s capacity to take on stress and strain in their daily lives. By combining quantitative data with subjective feedback, athletes can better understand their rested and unrested states and make informed decisions on the best recovery practices based on their current condition. And, most simply stated, if they take on adjustments in their daily habits and lifestyle, they will achieve significant gains in their sleep quality and in turn their holistic health & wellness.
Wearable technology provides valuable insights into athlete health and readiness to perform, but some players may be leery of how their data will be used. Communication and early engagement with athletes during program design and roll-out ensures athlete buy-in, and sets expectations on data measurement, access, and usage. As more data is collected, it’s crucial for coaches to stay informed, encourage self-exploration, and create a safe learning environment so that players can take the appropriate action and be self-advocates for their own health and safety. It’s important to acknowledge and communicate to student athletes that their biometrics readings from wearables is THEIR data and programs which communicate this well ensure that athletes understand that they are being supported with an Athlete Empowerment system, intended to guide them towards their own personal and customized health & wellness journey.
By incorporating these practices from USCAH and OWN IT, stakeholders focused on student-athlete health, safety, and well-being should prioritize sleep, recovery, and incorporate actionable performance data in their training programs to improve health and performance for their student-athletes.
