The effect of overnight sleep deprivation after competitive rugby league matches on postmatch physiological and perceptual recovery
01 Sep 2013-
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of overnight sleep deprivation on recovery following competitive rugby league matches were examined and it was found that sleep deprivation negatively affected recovery following a rugby league match, specifically impairing counter-movement jump (CMJ) distance and cognitive function.
Abstract: PURPOSE:
This study examined the effects of overnight sleep deprivation on recovery following competitive rugby league matches.
METHODS:
Eleven male, amateur rugby league players performed two competitive matches, followed by either a normal night's sleep (~8h; CONT) or a sleep deprived night (~0h; SDEP) in a randomised fashion. Testing was conducted the morning of the match, and immediately post-match, 2h post and the next morning (16h post-match). Measures included counter-movement jump (CMJ) distance, knee extensor maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), voluntary activation (VA), venous blood creatine kinase (CK) and C-reactive protein (CRP), perceived muscle soreness and a word-colour recognition cognitive function test. Percent change between post- and 16h post-match was reported to determine the effect of the intervention the next morning.
RESULTS: Large effects indicated a greater post- to 16h post-match percentage decline in CMJ distance following SDEP compared to CONT (P=0.10-0.16; d=0.95-1.05). Similarly, the percentage decline in incongruent word-colour reaction times were increased in SDEP trials (P=0.007; d=1.75). Measures of MVC did not differ between conditions (P=0.40-0.75; d=0.13-0.33), though trends for larger percentage decline in VA were detected in SDEP (P=0.19; d=0.84). Further, large effects indicated higher CK and CRP responses 16h post-match during SDEP compared to CONT (P=0.11-0.87; d=0.80-0.88).
CONCLUSIONS:
Sleep deprivation negatively affected recovery following a rugby league match, specifically impairing CMJ distance and cognitive function. Practitioners should promote adequate post-match sleep patterns or adjust training demands the next day to accommodate the altered physical and cognitive state following sleep deprivation.
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TL;DR: The paper shows that a maximal voluntary effort develops the same tension as a maximal tetanus artificially excited; in the second part the same equality is found to persist during fatigue, implying that in fatigue, too, the limitation of strength is peripheral.
Abstract: In voluntary efforts it is not known for certain whether the force that can be exerted is limited by the capacity of the nervous centres and conducting pathways to deliver motor impulses to the muscle fibres or by the intrinsic contractile properties of the fibres themselves; whether, in fact, a voluntary effort can be bettered by maximal tetanic stimulation of the muscle electrically, or not. Again in fatigue it is undecided whether tension falls because the degree of voluntary innervation drops or because the fibres are biochemically incapable of maintaining their contraction. The experiments described here attempt to settle these questions by comparing directly voluntary tension with that resulting from electrically excited motor volleys. To make a valid comparison in an intact human subject is difficult, but it will be argued that it can be achieved by using a particularly convenient muscle, the adductor of the thumb, and special apparatus. The paper falls into three parts: the first shows that a maximal voluntary effort develops the same tension as a maximal tetanus artificially excited; in the second part the same equality is found to persist during fatigue, implying that in fatigue, too, the limitation of strength is peripheral; finally the effect of ischaemia is described. Preliminary accounts have already appeared (Merton & Pampiglione, 1950; Merton, 1950).
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495 citations