Recently I was speaking with an athlete about the trouble they have sleeping in a foreign environment, i.e. not their own bed, and trying to come up with solutions and ideas to help.

Mike Robertson wrote a good blog post on basic for good sleep and can be found here
The basics are

  1. Develop a Routine
  2.  Optimise the Sleeping Environment
  3. Improve Sleep whilst Travelling
  4. Advanced Techniques

The athlete has a reasonable sleeping routine, and generally sleeps well in their own bed, so what to do.

Reminds me of a former training partner who use to take their pillow to every competition that required travel.



Being comfortable and relaxed is highly important.

What suggestions did we come up with?
  • Learn Relaxation techniques, the more relaxed you are the more likely your sleep will be of good quality
  • Listen to music
  • Learn meditation
  • Ear Plugs and Eye Mask

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Understanding 100m Speed

Image
Understanding 100m Speed According to Kovacs (2005) the 100 metre can be broken up into the following model Figure 1 If you look at figure 1 above, maximum speed is reached between 40 and 70 metres.   In table 1, below, shows the respective 20m splits and reaction time of the medallists at the 2009 IAAF World Championships (IAAF: 2009).   The table indicates that all three of the medallists run their fastest 20 metre segments between 60 and 80 metres.   Further evidence of when the elite 100 metres sprinters reach and run there fastest splits is shown in table 2 (Lee 2008)             Usain Bolt Tyson Gay Asafa Powell RT 0.146 0.144 0.134 20 2.88 2.88 2.92 2.92 2.91 2.91 40 4.64 1.76 4.70 1.78 4.71 1.80 60 6.31 1.67 6.39 1.69 6.42 1.71 80 7.92 1.61 8.02
Read more

Performance after peaking phase

The Saturday just finished was one of the biggest events the Athletics community in Hobart has prior to Christmas, the meet is important as it is the meet to allow the athletic fraternity to celebrate and remember our past greats.  As a person I believe it is important that we remember them. After an athlete had followed a 10 day peaking cycle he came out and run 0.40 seconds faster in the 400m.  His comment was he didn't run fast enough in the first 200m, so he could have run faster.  Unfortuately I missed the meet, as I had another function to attend. The question I need to ask as a coach, did the peaking cycle work? What do we need to improve on? As a coach, it is a learning experience with every athlete as they are all slightly individual. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Read more

Competition Nerves

This weekend, is the first major competition for school aged athletes.  Fortunately I only have two resistance athletes competing. Fortunately I hear you ask. I am a nervous watcher of track and field when athletes I coach are competing.  As an athlete I rarely got nervous, as I knew what work I had done and what I expected from this training.  As a coach, I watch my athlete get ready for an event and the time between wishing them luck to the completion of their race I have no control, I have to hope we have done the work and reduced the work load correctly and satisfactorily to perform at a desired level. That being said, I have never been disappointed at the effort of the athlete, but sometimes the result has been lacking. So to all athletes and coaches, good luck at your competition and hope you achieve the result from the training you have done
Read more