Sleep harder… What does he mean by “sleep harder?”
Sleep for relaxing and recovering, that’s important, very important. It is so important because that’s where your body truly does get a chance to grow to new heights and achieve new feats of strength or skill such as throwing a 90+ mph fast ball, producing the power to hit those game changing home runs, react so quick your glove floats to that line drive and the inning is over. The most under looked yet most valuable aspect of your training is your sleep. You could put in your skills time on the field, put in your strength work in the weight room, put in the effort with prepped meals and scarfing them down… but the results you want from all of those won’t add up when you’re not sleeping 8-10 hours a night… I promise you will only be making moderate to no gains in any of your hopeful training attempts if you are not sleeping at least that much.
So what’s the problem with sleeping less than 8-10 hours a night as a kid? Well let us take a look…
Not Getting Enough Sleep:
- Means Lack of Growth
- Means Lack of Potential
- Means Performance Suffers
- Ultimately Means You’re NOT Getting Anywhere
Let’s travel a little further…
Side Effects of Poor Sleep
- Little to No Growth of Bodily Tissues
- Decreased Potential for Strength, Power, and Mental Ability
- Lack of, or Decreased Skill Improvement
- Lack of, or Decreased Focus in School
- Increased Fatigue
- Increased Stress
- Higher Chance for Injury
- Increased Risk for Depression
- An Academically Failing Athlete
- An Unsuccessful Athlete
If your child is not sleeping adequately at night then their bodies are not getting a chance to repair and improve the way it functions. Sleep is where real muscle is built and where the athlete can recharge and renew from the days activities and prepare itself for more the following day. Here is how we can avoid the above.
-Sleep 8-10 hours a night.
-Build a sleep schedule. Follow the same times of going to bed and waking up throughout the week.
-Train earlier in the day and train hard.
-Eat a nutritious and filling meal for dinner 3-4 hours before bed.
-Manage stress through coping strategies, friends or exercise.
-Avoid energy drinks or caffeine later in the day.
-Be consistent with the above points.
If you follow the above guidelines and you are training hard and smart then you will surely find yourself growing and improving as your sleep quality and duration improves. And that’s what you want right? To be great… to be a star player on the field. You need to put all the factors together and make your efforts 100% in each of those; sleep, training, academics, nutrition. So think again before wasting time on your video games or smart phones. Go to school, the weight room, the diamond, do your homework, eat throughout the day, and get your SLEEP in! Take your body to its new level and better you. Get your rest and sore to new heights. Sleep tight and dream big athletes. Good night. Zzzzzz….
Andy Schindling 