Nick Littlehales, Elite sport sleep coach, Sport Sleep Coach UK

For decades, we haven’t been approaching sleep in the right way, taking it for granted and mostly getting away with it. However, nowadays there are many lifestyle and occupational practices exacerbating this problem, including increased exposure to artificial light and being plugged into technology.

We’re now reaching a tipping point whereby sleep deprivation is leading to a rapid rise in associated side-effects and disorders, not to mention a dependency on caffeine and sleeping tablets. This is a one-way street to burnout.

Whenever I ask clients how much sleep they need, they say eight hours. But after more than 30 years in the sleep industry, and 16 dedicated to elite sport, I’ve rarely worked with anyone who achieves that. Most push on through life, rarely experiencing a personal best in any area of life because they’re not getting adequate mental and physical recovery from the hours allocated to sleep.

In the world of elite sport, I’ve been redefining the importance of sleep to overall sports performance, with clients including British Cycling and the ParaCycling Olympic teams, the Sky Pro Cycling team, leading premiership and international football teams and Premiership rugby union and Super League Clubs.

The key factors I address as part of my Sleep Recovery Programme involve re-synching an athlete with the circadian rhythms: the physical, mental and behavioural changes their bodies follow during any 24-hour cycle, triggered by light, dark and temperature changes. Understanding their chronotype – are they a morning or night person – and designing their training schedules accordingly can be a game changer.

We’re naturally attuned to take advantage of three sleep periods every day: nocturnal, between 1.00pm and 3.00pm, and around 5.00pm–7.00pm. I recommend people sleep in shorter cycles rather than blocks of hours, and that naps are factored into every routine.

In addition, re-establishing pre and post sleep routines – for example tech shut-down, mental download, moving from light to dark and warm to cool – have never been more important to help enter a natural sleep state.

Health clubs and their members would clearly benefit from raising sleep recovery awareness in a redefined way that’s more attuned to today’s lifestyles, combining simple, practical and achievable techniques.