Normandie University, UNICAEN, INSERM, UMR 1075, COMETE, Caen, FRANCE.
National Observatory of Sport, ONS, Tunis, TUNISIA.
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2019 Feb;51(2):338-345. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000001786.
It has been suggested that napping is the best recovery strategy for athletes. However, researches on the impacts of napping on athletic performances are scarce. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a 30-min nap after a partial sleep deprivation, or a normal night condition, on alertness, fatigue, and cognitive and physical outcomes.
Thirteen national-level male karate athletes were randomized to experience nap and no-nap conditions, after either a reference or a partial sleep deprivation night. The nap lasted 30 min at 1:00 PM. The postnap testing session started at 2:00 PM by quantifying subjective alertness and fatigue. Cognitive and physical performances were respectively measured before and after the karate-specific test (KST) by simple reaction time (SRT) test, lower reaction test (LRT), mental rotation test (MRT), squat jump (SJ), and counter movement jump (CMJ) tests.
After a reference night, the nap improved alertness and cognitive outcomes (SRT, LRT, and MRT). No effects on subjective fatigue and physical performances were found. After a partial-sleep deprivation, the nap restored subjective alertness and the decrement in performances caused by sleep loss in most of the tests (MRT, LRT, and KST), but no effects were observed in subjective fatigue and CMJ. After the fatigue induced by KST, there was an ergogenic effect of the nap on the physical performances (CMJ and SJ), and a partial psychogenic effect on the cognitive performances (LRT).
A 30-min nap enhances cognitive outcomes. It is also an effective strategy to overcome the cognitive and physical deteriorations in performances caused either by sleep loss or by fatigue induced by exhaustive trainings in the afternoon.
有人认为小睡是运动员最佳的恢复策略。然而，关于小睡对运动表现影响的研究却很少。本研究旨在确定在部分睡眠剥夺或正常夜间条件下，30 分钟小睡对警觉、疲劳以及认知和身体表现的影响。
13 名国家级男性空手道运动员被随机分配到小睡和无小睡条件下，分别经历了参考或部分睡眠剥夺之夜。小睡在下午 1 点持续 30 分钟。午睡后测试于下午 2 点开始，通过量化主观警觉度和疲劳度来评估。在进行特定空手道测试（KST）之前和之后，分别通过简单反应时间（SRT）测试、下反应测试（LRT）、心理旋转测试（MRT）、深蹲跳（SJ）和反向跳（CMJ）测试来评估认知和身体表现。
在参考夜间，小睡提高了警觉度和认知表现（SRT、LRT 和 MRT）。但对主观疲劳和身体表现没有影响。在部分睡眠剥夺后，小睡恢复了主观警觉度和因睡眠不足导致的大多数测试（MRT、LRT 和 KST）中的表现下降，但对主观疲劳和 CMJ 没有影响。在 KST 引起的疲劳后，小睡对身体表现（CMJ 和 SJ）有促进作用，对认知表现（LRT）有部分心理促进作用。
30 分钟小睡可提高认知表现。它也是一种有效的策略，可以克服因睡眠不足或下午疲劳训练引起的认知和身体表现下降。
