Top 10 Fruits

We love to say that fruit is nature's candy.  It's true, most fruit are naturally sweet with natural sugars, but unlike candy they kick you in the butt with lot of fiber, antioxidants, phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals.  Here's a quick reminder on some of those big words.

Phytonutrients - Natural nutrients in plant sources.  Phyto is Greek for plant, and these nutrients can help with many different health issues and help prevent diseases.  Some of the major phytonutrients for humans include - flavonoids, glucosinolates, resveratrol, caretonoids, ellagic acid, and phytoestrogens.  Overall the more phytonutrients a food has the better it is for us.

Antioxidants - Antioxidants help protect and repair damage done by free radicals.  Free radicals can cause damage to our body if they are not kept in check over time.  Antioxidants assist in reducing the natural damage done by free radicals.

It's tough to make a better nutritional choice than grab a handful of fruit.  Plus summer is prime season for most fruits, meaning they are extra fresh and less expensive.  ESPECIALLY at your local farmer's market, that's the hotspot for fresh and cheap fruits - little secret for you.  Ok let's take a look at some top choices of tuity fruity's

1. Berries - Aka Berrylicious

Blueberries - Now is the perfect time to take advantage of blueberries as summer is blueberry season!  Blueberries pack an incredible punch of antioxidants, in fact they have one of the highest antioxidants contents of any food you can eat.  It's no question blueberries are awesome for brain, heart, and cardiovascular health.  Blueberries may also enhance memory and fight the onset of Alzheimer's.

   Tummy Time - Skip out on the store and see if there is an orchard near where you live.  It's a whole hell of a lot cheaper to pick them yourself, and it's a lot more fun.  Plus you can freeze blueberries and they won't lose any of their nutritional value.

Strawberries - Strawberries are the most consumed berry, and it's easy to see why.  First off, they are delicious; and second, they provide massive amounts of vitamin C (immune system booster), antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory's.  Plus strawberries provide good amounts of fiber and can help control blood sugar, so even though they are super sweet, they don't wreck havoc on your blood sugar.

(photo: www.health.com)

   Tummy Time - Eat plain, or throw in a shake.  Strawberry shake...mmmmmmm!

Blackberries - Blackberries are a overlooked for their antioxidant levels when compared to other berries.  Blackberries can aid in preventing inflammation, can help prevent infection, and protect against cancers.  Blackberries, when eating regularly, can help strengthen your blood vessels which is key in sport performance and recovery from exercise.

   Tummy Time - Throw blackberries into a fruit salad

Raspberries - These little red, plump suckers aren't one of my favorites, but my mom loves them.  For those trying to maintain or lose weight, raspberries might become a good friend.  Recently they have been linked to reducing body fat through it's unique blend of phytonutrients.  Let's not also forget about the vitamin C, manganese, and fiber.

   Tummy Time - Toss some raspberries and some other berries in a bowl with greek yogurt and you got yourself an awesome little snack!

Cranberries - These tart guys may not be the most tasty, but they are great for cleansing your blood, urinary tract infections, and are packed with phytonutrients.  Cranberries are an awesome anti-inflammatory, assist heart health, and can help prevent cancer.

   Tummy Time - The tartness of cranberries can be a great addition to salads, shakes, and pies.

2. Pineapple

It's also a great time to get your pineapple fix, and we're getting into the back end of their main season.  This super sweet fruit will give you well over your daily's amount of vitamin C as well as a ton of manganese.  It's also a great post-workout food as it's help muscle repair and inflammation.

   Tummy Time - Plain ole Jane

3. Grapes - Aka Non-alcoholic wine

Grapes are my favorite fruit, nothing beats a fresh, firm purple grape!  I'm in luck because grapes are incredible for antioxidants, anti-inflammatory's, and may increase longevity.  We don't stop there either because grapes are a super fruit!  They also fight cancer, are good for the brain, and help control blood sugar.  How?  It's unique combination of phytonutrients and antioxidants make grapes incredible for anybody.

   Tummy Time - Sorry to be boring but nothing beats grapes just plain, but also in with greek yogurt is a close second.

4. Cherries

The cherry is a must for any athlete's kitchen.  Cherries are a potent anti-inflammatory and aid in muscular recovery as well as anything you could do.  Cherries are a natural pain killer and they are high in melatonin, meaning they can aid in sleep.

   Tummy Time - Cherry season is among the shortest of all produce, and right now they're in.  So grab your cherries for the cheaper prices while you can.

5. Grapefruit - Aka Food with the most hassle to eat

This awesome breakfast fruit will kick start your day with tons of vitamin C, antioxidants, and may help on a weight-loss diet.  Grapefruit ranks among the highest fruits in terms of antioxidant levels and is especially high in lypocene, which is shown to fight cancer.

   Tummy Time - Half a grapefruit for breakfast and start your day off right

6. Avocado - Aka - Most confused food - Am I a fruit, vegetable, or alien

(photo: wikipedia.org)

Avocado's are quickly becoming a staple in all health conscious people's kitchen, and for good reason.  Avocado's are high in fiber, carotenoids, healthy fats, and are a great anti-inflammatory.  Start adding in avocado's to your diet and receive the benefits to your heart, skin, and waistline.

   Tummy Time - Nothing beats fresh, homemade guacamole!  But adding in chunks of avocado to chicken salad is a close second.




7. Kiwi

These little buggers provide a big kick of Vitamin C, fiber, and are packed with antioxidants.  Kiwi are a great summer time snack and the more you eat of these the more benefits you will see in cardiovascular health, colon health, and control of your blood sugar.

   Tummy Time - Peel the skin with a knife and enjoy some delicious slices of kiwi!

8. Oranges - Aka Orange you glad your not a banana

Oranges are well known for their Vitamin C content and the immune system boost they provide.  But they are also a great source of phytonutrients and antioxidants.  Oranges have been linked with helping lower cholesterol, prevent ulcers, and support cardiovascular health.  Plus because oranges have a high water content, they are very refreshing, especially on hot summer days.

   Tummy Time - Peel and enjoy some oranges slices anytime you want.


9. Cantaloupe

Cantaloupe pack a serious punch of Vitamins A and C.  One serving of cantaloupe provides over your daily recommended value of both of these Vitamins.  Cantaloupe is one of the most nutrient dense fruits and provides a good number of antioxidants and is a great anti-inflammatory.

   Tummy Time - Throw some slices in greek yogurt and you're good to go.


10. Papaya

If you think oranges supply a lot of Vitamin C, then you haven't heard of papaya.  These bad boys supply over 300% of the daily value in just one serving!  Papaya is a fantastic post workout choice as is helps aid muscle recovery and decreases inflammation from exercise. Papaya also aids in prostate health, digestive health, heart health, and can help remedy arthritis.

   Tummy Time - Throw some papaya slices into homemade salsa to get that sweet and spicy combination that rivals the great combination of Hall and Oates.

(photo: www.harvext.com

No-No's

Fruit Juice - Most fruit juice's contain very small amounts of actual fruit, and high amounts of added sugar.  Stay away from regular fruit juice's!  If you can't live without fruit juice here are 3 options

   1. POM - POM is a pomegranate drink that is 100% juice.  Pomegranates are a nutritional power house, and POM is one of the few fruits drinks you should have.

   2. Naked Juice - Naked juice are drinks that are 100% vegetable and juice.  These are cool because on the side of the bottle it tells you exactly how many of each fruit and veggie are in it.  No sugar is added because there is no need, fruit and veggies have enough natural sugar and sweetness to them.

   3. Homemade - Have a juicer?  Then make your own fruit juices.  Don't have a juicer?  Then use a blender with some water and blend up some soft fruits together.  Delicious!

Dried Fruit - While dried fruit is a better option than other crappy snacks, just like fruit juice, most dried fruits are heavily saturated in added sugars when they don't need to be.  Help clean this up and buy unsweetened dried fruits to ensure you're just getting the fruit and no added sugar.


All right you fruit cakes, now you got the know who on this summer's fruits.  There isn't a better time to enjoy a bowl fresh, mouth watering fruits.

What's your favorite fruit?  Did we include on the list or did we miss it?  Leave us some feedback below!  And until next time Go Get 'Em!

The Other 23

One of the most important aspects of athletic development we emphasize is something we call - The Other 23.

You train for approximately 1-hour a day and then for the other 23 hours of the day what do you do?  Think about that for a second.  That's 23 hours of away from training and 1 hour training - In the grand scheme of things, what do you think is more important?

No doubt training is of utmost importance, but if you aren’t taking care of the hours spent away from training you are definitely short changing your results.


You can't out train or out work a poor lifestyle

The truth is, you get better between training sessions, not during them. Training elicits a stress on your body and you become better by adapting to those stresses. Training provides the stimulus for awesome results, BUT to fully maximize those results you need to take care of the other 23-hours you are not at BBA.

What does this mean?

• Nutrition - Eating tons of lean proteins, vegetables, and fruits at every meal
• Rest - Getting AT LEAST 8-hours of sleep per night - Plus consider a 20-40 minute nap
• Taking 10-minutes everyday to spend on your body 
• Stretching, Mobility, Self Massage (foam rolling) 
• Hot-Cold Showers, Cold Baths, Epsom Salt Baths 
• Being Active (Not watching TV/playing video games all day)

• Drinking plenty of water - 1/2 your BW in ounces
• Breathing Drills/Meditation - Tap into your parasympathetic nervous system and down regulate

It’s during The Other 23 that you will truly see the biggest results.  These hours are the difference between the good and great.  It's the difference between the serious and non-serious.  It's also the most underutilized aspect of most athletes lives.

If athletes, or really anybody for that matter, would just take control of 80% of this Other 23, they would see tremendous improvements in all areas of their performance and health.

Remember

You can't out train or out work a poor lifestyle


Go Get 'Em!

Essentials of Baseball Performance

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At Building Better Athletes, we got our start working with primarily baseball athletes, in particular pitchers.  About half of our population is baseball athletes, we work as the Sports Performance Specialists for an area University pitching staff, and we regularly consult with baseball teams/clubs on proper development and care of baseball athletes.

For anybody who has worked intensively with baseball athletes knows the unique demands baseball presents and conversely how specific and specialized the training for these athletes needs to be.  You can definitely mess up a baseball player by performing wrong things in the weight room.  The interplay and intricacy of throwing/pitching and hitting is very detailed and throwing un-needed stresses or quarks into the interplay is a recipe for disaster.

It's always interesting to see athletes comes to us, whether it be HS or college, and they describe their previous or even current training program to us, and literally it could be considered negligence on behalf of the coach/team.  Many of the things we see, especially depending on the quality of coaching, are probably doing more harm than good and setting many of their athletes up for failure or injury.

Then we ask if their is any individualization in the program or if the coach has ever seen you with your shirt off and evaluated your glenoid-humeral movements, thoracic spine movement, or rib cage/lumbar spine relationship to overhead movement.  To this day, we've never had an athlete tell us yes to either one of those questions and it's funny because this information should be directly used to what the training program should look like.

If an athlete has a depressed scapula, then things like deadlifts, farmer walks, Olympic lifts, and cueing down and back are all wrong.  If an athlete has valgus sign at the elbow, then things like Snatch's, Jerk's, barbell Back Squat, and most OH lifting should be avoided.  If an athlete presents anterior tilt and protraction of their scapula, then benching is a big no-no.  The list goes on and on, yet we never see a HS and even many college programs take any of this into consideration, and it's no wonder their athletes are searching elsewhere because they don't see actual on-field performance enhancement or they got hurt. 

Go Get 'Em!

Important Questions to Ask on a Recruiting Trip

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We work with a lot of HS athletes preparing for that transition to college and it's always a fun and stressful time for these athletes as they look for a place to spend the next chapter of their life.

I remember going through the recruiting process and thinking what the hell am I going to do? How can I tell the difference between all these schools?

When I look back, it's one of those - I wish I knew then, what I know now.

Athletes and parents often go into these situations not really knowing what to look for and this can make the whole process really sticky.

Two months ago, we were lucky enough to have 3 area coaches come in and talk to our athletes about things they can be doing to help their chance to play college ball. It was great opportunity for our athletes to hear directly from these college coaches on what they look for and what athletes should look for when choosing a school.

Below we've compiled some of the most important questions athletes and parents need to know before making this big decision.

Take a look at these and have a plan during these exciting times.  It will save a lot of headache and solve some potential problems choosing a school.  


Education

    - Do they have the academic programs/degree you want?

    - Do they have a solid academic support staff in place? Will you have access to tutors?

    - What is the team's graduation rate?

    - Are there alumni that studied in your degree field and what are they doing now? Can you talk to them?

    - What was the team's average GPA?

    - Do the coaches oversee and look over your grades or will you be on your own?

    - Is their an independent academic standard (aside from the NCAA's) that you need to reach in order to play?


Athletic

    - Will you have an opportunity to play right away? If not, are you ok waiting 1, 2, maybe 3 years before playing?

    - How would the coaching staff describe their coaching style? Can you see yourself being coach as such?

    - Did you meet the strength and conditioning coach? What is his/her approach to training both in-season and off-season? (You’ll be spending a lot of time with this coach)

    - Have you watched this team play a game and practice? (Let me tell you, college is a heck of a lot different than HS in both practice and game tempo, intensity, etc)

    - Did you meet the assistant or position coaches? They'll often be the ones coaching you far more than the head coach will be.

    - Does the coaching staff get out and attend or speak at different conferences to improve at their craft? I can tell you I'd much rather be part of a program that is continually trying to find better more successful ways to coach and plan for me as an athlete and as a team, rather than just be stuck in their ways.


Miscellaneous

    - What is a program's track record in terms of injury rates? This is especially important for sports like baseball, soccer, basketball. Are the same injuries occurring every year like ACL, UCL tears? If so, this may mean something is going on that increases risk of these injuries ie over-use, poor training models, dangerous practice habits, etc. You don't want to become one of these statistics, so know if you're a pitcher and every year they have guys having Tommy John Surgery, a red flag needs to go off.

    - How tough of an adjustment, socially will it be for you? This is HUGE! You'll be spending the next 4-5 years of your life in this city/community. Will you fit in? Is it too far or too close to home? Is the social environment enough or too much for you?

    - Is it public or private? This may seem weird, but there are usually some vast differences between a public vs private university. Most private institutions have some sort of religious background and this may mean mandatory religious education classes, required weekly mass, living on-campus for 2-3 years, no opposite sex in dorm rooms, required class attendance, dry campus, more expensive tuition, etc. Public institutions tend to be more open and allow more freedom than private institutions, but on the same hand they tend to be larger, provide less "intimate" education (larger classes, less hands on advising), and often don't require attendance to class. Overall each option provides different pros and cons, know them.

    - How much is tuition? Can you get grants, scholarships, or help paying this? With today's cost of college education, this question needs to be asked. A school may look great and everything, but is it worth paying off 100K for the next 20-years of your life?




Hope this helps all those aspiring athletes gain clarification as they choose their college. Making a great decision at this junction will determine many things in an athletes future. Be sure to leave no stone un-turned and know the details of your decision.


Go Get 'Em

3 Things Athletes Can Learn From Derek Jeter

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In case you've been living under a rock this past week, you've heard Derek Jeter retired from the game of baseball.  Arguably one of the greatest baseball players of all-time on the best franchise in the history of the MLB.

What's stood out even more than his illustrious career, is him as a person.  Jeter has played in the league for 20-years and is considered one of the greatest leaders and class acts in the game.  Everybody who has known Jeter has nothing but great things to say about the guy, and in the professional sports world this a feat in itself.

There are things all athletes can learn from the career from Jeter, and below are 3 things athletes should take notice too.

(Photo Credit: Giantbomb.com)

1. Consistency

Jeter is a model of consistency and a guy that plays day in and day out, not to mention he plays what is considered to be the leader of the defense - Shortstop.  Overall, Jeter played for 20-years with a career batting average of .310, hit 260 homeruns, drove in 1311 runs, and scored 1923 times.  

Check this out, in his first full season he hit .314, had 10 homeruns, 78 RBI's, and scored 104 runs.  In his 18th full season he hit .316, 15 homeruns, 58 RBI's, and scored 99 runs.  Not only that, in his 19 full years in the bigs, he played in 145 or more games in 16/19 seasons.  If that's not a model of consistency, I don't know what is.  Jeter has also said that he's within 5lbs of the weight he was during his rookie season, meaning he's a guy that takes care of his body and the does little things that allow him to be great.

Half the battle is showing up, day in and day out, and putting your best effort on the field and Jeter did that.  He played through pain, played when he was tired and beat up, and played when he didn't feel his best.  He didn't make excuses, he showed up and performed, this is admirable and something all athletes should take note.  

2. Let His Game Speak

If there is one thing all competitors say about Jeter is he respected the game and played it the right way.  He wasn't cocky, didn't try to show anybody up, played hard, played with respect, and played the game the right way.

He didn't talk about himself or try to subtract from other players/teams; he let his game speak for itself.  It's a breath of fresh air to hear this as all you ever hear today is players talking about themselves or trying to tear down another player.  It's great to have confidence, but these kind of antics are over the top and don't win you over any admirers. 

Jeter let his game do the talking and his game did the most talking when the game is on the line.  He has been given the nickname, "Mr. Clutch" for good reason.  Just think about his last week - He ended his final game at Yankee Stadium with a walk off RBI to win the game.  Then he ended his final career at-bat with a hit.  All great players step-up when the game is on the line, and Jeter did this as well as any.

Walk the walk, don't talk the talk.

3. Humble

The guy is going to be a 1st ballot Hall of Famer, was Rookie of the Year, been a All-Star 14-times, won 5 Gold Gloves, won 5 Silver Sluggers, was MVP of both the World Series and All-Star game, and was a World Champion 5 times.  If anybody is in a situation to be cocky, it's Jeter, yet you never hear anything.

The guy goes about his business, avoids negative headlines, and play the game the right way.  He's humble, down to earth, and respectful of the game and it's history.  If you haven't seen this commercial of Jeter, it's a must see.  Plus it's got ole Franky Sinatra music leading it, so it's even more awesome!

Take note athletes - Be humble, be consistent, and let your game speak for itself.

Go Get 'Em!

Wanna Throw Cheddar? Then Get Stronger!

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Overhead actions dominate many sports; everything from pitchers, quarterbacks, volleyball players, tennis, swimming, to handball players, they all have huge requirements for OH actions.  With all of these actions, the major goal is to increase the velocity of the implement used - we want to increase throwing velocity, throwing distance, serving power, stroke power, and spiking power - Overall we want to increase the high stinky cheddar!

Well how do you improve OH power and velocity?  

Previous research has reported that high-velocity throwing begins at the lower body (1).  OH power is driven through leg/hip movements and this power progresses up through the torso/core, to the shoulder and finally through the arm where it gets put to work on the given implement.  A stronger and more stable lumbopelvic-hip complex contributes to higher rotational velocity (3).

Roach and Liebermann indicated that 90% of the work for throwing power is generated at the hips (1).

Yes, 90%!

Look at anybody who thrives in an OH sport and they'll have a solid lower half.

It makes you wonder why we see all these special devices, bands, and weighted balls designed to improve throwing velocity, when the reality is that the best way to improve throwing velocity is to improve your lower half.  Trying to increase throwing velocity by focusing on strengthening the shoulder or arm is akin to putting new tires on a car - it will look good and give some performance benefits but if the engine isn't there, it really doesn't matter.

We love to use med balls and some of the devices mentioned above to develop and cement the rotational sequencing, but it's important to understand they are just a small tool and are not as effective for increasing throwing power as strength training.

In fact a study from way back in 1994 showed this; medicine ball training alone had a neutral effect on throwing velocity, while a strength training group produced a significant increase in pitching velocity (4).  This is not to say strengthening the shoulder or the use of certain devices isn't warranted, they have a time and place, but they shouldn't be the vocal point in training programs and unfortunately that's exactly what we often see in many OH training programs.

As many can attest, we feel the best approach is a combination of different tools, but first and foremost is a good base of strength.  With this base is place, the other tools can be more effective and transfer to sport to greater degree. 

What's even more interesting about developing the lower body is that Lehman et al found that power in the frontal plane (lateral movements) correlated most to throwing velocity; more so than vertical jump, sprinting speed, and vertical med ball power (2).  

What's this all mean?

It means that throwing velocity is specific and training demands needs to follow suit.  Traditional squat, deadlift, clean, snatch, and bench alone don't cut it.  Training elements need to be in place to focus on frontal plane movements and developing power in this manner.

When I first read this study a year ago, I decided to study many of my athletes on these same tests.  Specifically, I evaluated unilateral lateral jump and throwing velocity.  After compiling 25 samples, I found the same result - those athletes with the longest lateral jump, threw the hardest.  The graph below shows the obvious trend; you not only need great power and strength in the lower body and hips, but it also has to be specific to lateral movements.  

X-Axis = Lateral Bound; Y-Axis = Throwing Velocity

How to Throw Cheddar?

First and foremost, get strong and powerful, especially in the frontal and transverse plane.  This means applying many of the tools used below.  If you haven't seen some of these or performed drills in this manner, then you're short-changing your ability to throw that high stinky cheese.  Take a look.

Finally in terms of OH training, we really hammer away at hip and pelvis stability and control.  Burkhart et al demonstrated that poor gluteus medius strength and control can effect "up the stream" and place increased stress on the shoulder.  These researchers reported that approximately 44% of athletes presented with SLAP (superior labral anterior-posterior) tears also exhibited gluteus medius weakness (5).  Another interesting study showed that pitchers showed lower glute and hip strength/control compared to position players (6).  This may contribute to explain why pitchers tend to have greater occurrence of arm injury when volume is equated.

Weak glutes and hips will not only effect leg drive and force put through the body, but it also effects position and mechanics through different OH movements.  When we look at pitchers, during balance point, if the hip on the grounded leg sinks or sags it will effect the whole delivery.  We need a strong and stable base in this hip and this means working on glute medius strength through band walks, clams, or side lying leg raises.  We also like to work this stability in the specific manner it is seen in many OH athletes, demonstrated by the drill below.  The band forces the abductors to be highly active to stabilize this position. 

Bring in the Closer

With all the OH athletes we work with, increasing OH power is key and when athletes go through our program that emphasized frontal plane movements, they can tell the difference.  A big squat and deadlift is great, but if that doesn't specifically transfer to lateral and rotational movement, then it's all for not.  We get great feedback from our athletes who feel the transfer of strength, power, and speed during OH movements because of our approach.

So if you want to throw cheddar, get strong laterally and see the results!

Go Get 'Em!


References

1. Roach and Liebermann.  Upper body contributions to power generation during rapid, overhand throwing in humans.  Journal of Experimental Biology, 2014

2. Lehman, G et al.  Correlation of Throwing Velocity to the Results of Lower-Body Field Tests in Male College Baseball Players.  Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research: April 2013 - Volume 27 - Issue 4 - p 902-908

3. Saeterbakken, A et al.  Effect of Core Stability Training on Throwing Velocity in Female Handball Players.  Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research: March 2011 - Volume 25 - Issue 3 - pp 712-718

4.  Newton, R; McEvoy, K.  Baseball Throwing Velocity: A Comparison of Medicine Ball Training and Weight Training. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research: August 1994

5. Burkhart SS, Morgan CD, Kibler WB. Shoulder injuries in overhead athletes. The “dead arm” revisited. Clin Sports Med 2000;19(1):125-158.

6. Laudner, Kevin G., et al. "Functional hip characteristics of baseball pitchers and position players." The American journal of sports medicine 38.2 (2010): 383-387.

Research Review: Sleep

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Sleep!  I absolutely love to sleep, but unfortunately I'm in the wrong field with daily wake-up calls at 5:00am, but Sundays are the 1-day I get to play catch-up on some good sleep.  So it's only fitting that I write this on a Sunday morning after a good night of rest.

For athletes, sleep might be the most powerful tool you have for increasing performance.  It's also one of the easiest aspects to improve but often very under-managed.  It's very UNcommon to hear of an athlete we work with get to bed before 10pm, yet alone 11pm or midnight.

This is discouraging considering the impact quality sleep can have on athletes, especially those in high school or below.  The role sleep plays in energy levels, recovering from training, focus, attention, hormonal levels, and combating fatigue is clear.  Serious athletes have serious schedules, from training, to practice, to school, to games, to individual instruction, etc and this takes a major toll on the body.  The main weapon athletes have to balance this effort and make sure it turns into success on the field and in the classroom, is sleep!   

There is growing evidence that sleep duration and lack of sleep affect the onset of metabolic syndrome, obesity and type II diabetes, particularly via their association with increased body weight, glucose intolerance and high blood pressure (1).

Not only that but researchers have shown that sleep extension (adding on average of 110-minutes a night) increased shooting accuracy, decreased reaction times, decreased fatigue scales, and improved ratings of physical and mental ratings during practices and games in basketball players (2).

These

Collegiate Basketball players increased their sleeping patterns to around 10-hours a night and in return saw their free throw percentage increase by 9% and 3-point shooting percentage by 9.2%!  That's a lot of points to be had by a player and a team, and can mean the difference in the outcome of many games! 

When I talk to athletes athletes the common response is that it's not a big deal to lose sleep and it doesn't effect their playing ability.  But research tends to feel otherwise, and just 1.5 hours of sleep loss can decrease insulin sensitivity, decrease leptin concentrations, and can acutely decrease body weight, but chronically increase body weight (1).

In plain terms, decreased insulin sensitivity means insulin levels remain elevated for longer periods of time due to the lack of ability to get glucose in muscle tissues, ie not what we want.  Leptin is known to suppress appetite, so a lack of leptin can lead to increased hunger and appetite which may lead to weight gain.  This effect can be seen as studies appear to point to a relationship between lack of sleep and higher body mass index and fat percentage (3).

Literature is growing to show a clear relationship between lack of sleep and different potential health and performance problems.

"In summary, inadequate sleep, in both quality and quantity, should be regarded as a plausible risk factor for the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes. In addition to other health promotion measures, a good night's sleep should be seen as a critical health component by clinicians in the prevention and treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes." (3)

Overall sleep deprivation can effect the following

• Reduce Testosterone levels
• Reduce Ability to Recover
• Increase Stress
• Increase Appetite
• Increase Risk of Obesity
• Increase Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
• Decrease School, Athletic, and Work Performance

Tips For A Better Night of Sleep

• Pitch Black - A huge hormone that helps control the whole sleep-wake cycle is melatonin.  Melatonin is greatly influenced by light; darkness increases melatonin production while light reduces melatonin levels.  At night we want complete darkness to help stimulate melatonin production which will aid in quality sleep.  So try to keep your room at dark as possible. 

• Cool - Most sleep better in cool climates.  Try to keep your room around 65 degrees, whether this be with a fan or open windows.  Too hot or too cold a temperature, as we've all experienced, can effect quality of sleep.
  

• No Electronics - This goes hand in hand with keeping your room as dark as possible.  Electronics stimulate the body and suppress melatonin.  They actually keep you awake and it takes longer for the body to reach deep sleep with these in the background.  So shut off all electronics 30-minutes before heading to bed!  Even better is to eliminate as many electronics as possible from your room.  Keep your computer, Ipad, Ipod, cell phone, etc out of your room at night.

• Develop a Routine -  Getting into a routine or ritual before bed helps the body wind-down and get used to a pattern of sleep.  This can mean anything to anybody; whatever works for you, go for it.  Many like reading, writing, stretching, a hot bath, meditation, or listening to music.  The body starts to learn this routine, and knows when these activities start that it's their cue to wind-down and get ready for sleep.

• Eat and Drink The Right Things -  Avoid eating big meals, caffeine, and alcohol too close to bed time (90-120min).  These things can effect your ability to fall asleep and the quality of your sleep. 

Now get those zzz's!

Go Get 'Em!

References

1.  Robertson, Russell-Jones, Umpleby and Dijk.  Effects of three weeks of mild sleep restriction implemented in the home environment on multiple metabolic and endocrine markers in healthy young men.  Metabolism Clinical And Experimental, 2013

2. Cheri, Mah; Kenneth, Mah; Kezirian, Eric; William, Dement.  The effects of sleep extension on the athletic performance of collegiate basketball players.  Sleep, July 1, 2011.  34(7), 943-950.

3. Jessica, McNeil; Eric, Doucet; Jean-Phillippe, Chaput.  Inadequate sleep as a contributor to obesity and type 2 diabetes.  Canadian Journal of Diabetes.  Volume 37, Issue 2, Pages 103-108. April 2013