Halson Shona L, Bender Amy, Howatson Glyn, Pedlar Charles
School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, 1100 Nudgee Road, Brisbane Campus McAuley, Banyo, QLD, Australia.
Sports Performance, Recovery, Injury and New Technologies (SPRINT) Research Centre, Australian Catholic University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Sports Med. 2025 Aug 25. doi: 10.1007/s40279-025-02247-w.
Sleep plays an important role in performance, health and well-being, yet may represent a challenge to many female football players. Areas of the brain that are involved in the regulation of sleep contain receptors for the ovarian hormones, estrogen and progesterone. While limited evidence exists describing sleep across the menstrual cycle in elite female football players, related data suggest that female athletes may report poor subjective sleep, despite appropriate objectively measured sleep quality and quantity, particularly prior to or during menstruation. Some of the precipitators of poor sleep in female athletes may include: travel and jetlag, caffeine consumption, light exposure, competing at night, menstrual cycle symptoms, menstrual cycle dysfunction, low iron status and performing caring responsibilities. This article discusses potential approaches to protect, assess and provide interventions to support sleep in female football players. Despite the evidence base of research being predominantly studies of male athletes, there are a number of specific recommendations that can be made for female athletes. These include advice regarding methods to assess sleep and provide interventions based on resource availability, monitoring and managing menstrual cycle symptoms and menstrual dysfunction, and consideration of mitigating strategies to reduce the effects on known sleep disruptors. Many female footballers navigate unique challenges related to sleep; however, with appropriate support from coaches and sport science and sports medicine practitioners, an appropriate support network can be provided to not only optimise performance, but the physical and mental health of female athletes.
睡眠在体能表现、健康和幸福方面发挥着重要作用，但对许多女足球运动员来说可能是一项挑战。大脑中参与睡眠调节的区域含有卵巢激素雌激素和孕激素的受体。虽然关于精英女足球运动员整个月经周期睡眠情况的证据有限，但相关数据表明，尽管客观测量的睡眠质量和时长适宜，女运动员可能仍会报告主观睡眠不佳，尤其是在月经前或月经期间。女运动员睡眠不佳的一些诱因可能包括：旅行和时差、咖啡因摄入、光照、夜间比赛、月经周期症状、月经周期功能障碍、铁含量低以及承担照料责任。本文讨论了保护、评估和提供干预措施以支持女足球运动员睡眠的潜在方法。尽管研究的证据基础主要是针对男运动员的研究，但仍可为女运动员提出一些具体建议。这些建议包括关于根据资源可用性评估睡眠并提供干预措施的方法、监测和管理月经周期症状及月经功能障碍的建议，以及考虑减轻策略以减少已知睡眠干扰因素的影响。许多女足球运动员面临与睡眠相关的独特挑战；然而，在教练以及运动科学和运动医学从业者的适当支持下，可以提供一个适当的支持网络，不仅能优化表现，还能促进女运动员的身心健康。
