Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
PETE DOUGHERTY
This time, you snooze, you win
Green Bay — When you ask Aaron Rodgers what he does off the field to help his play at quarterback and, he hopes, extend his career into his 40s, he of course talks a lot about working out and eating a healthy diet.
But he also usually, and casually, mentions another factor: sleep.
Tom Brady, too. The New England Patriots quarterback has been quoted in reports saying that during the season he tries to get nine hours of sleep a night, and in the off-season 81⁄ 2.
The NFL’s two best quarterbacks are onto something, though they might not know exactly why.
“I’m not an expert on (sleep),” Rodgers said after a Green Bay Packers practice this past week. “I just know that’s when your body heals itself better. I (also) know there are a lot of cognitive issues with people who are insomniacs.”
In fact, as sleep science has advanced the last two decades, researchers have found that not getting enough sleep can compromise any and every measure of physical and mental health. That very much goes for athletes, who need sleep to, among other things, accelerate recovery and enhance their motor skills.
“If you don’t snooze, you lose,” is how Matthew Walker, a neuroscientist who specializes in studying sleep at Rodgers’ alma mater, the University of California, put it in a section devoted to athletes in his recently released book, “Why We Sleep.”
Professional sports teams, looking for every edge, have been emphasizing sleep for a while, though probably not to the degree they should, at least in the NFL.
Coach Mike McCarthy, for instance, prioritizes rest and recovery in the Packers’ practice and meeting schedules. That includes devoting Fridays to having players take part in a variety of recovery techniques such as massage therapy and hot-and-cold tubs.
McCarthy also sets his meeting and practice schedule so players can get plenty of sleep. For instance, the day after a night game, players usually aren’t due at the team’s facilities until around noon at the earliest. From all appearances, McCarthy and his support staff emphasize sleep for players mainly because of its recovery component. But recent research has shown that sleep helps athletes in more ways than that, which we’ll get into shortly.
But first, at the Packers’ two practices during organized team activities that have been open to reporters, I asked a few players about the priority they put on sleep and what they know about it. All were aware of its importance, but their knowledge as to why it’s important was limited.
“That’s probably where I fall,” Rodgers said.
Defensive lineman Mike Daniels said the Packers have sleep, recovery and hydration reminders posted around the football facility. He also said that when he played at the University of Iowa, a sign posted on the exit from the locker room reminded players to “get your eight hours.”
“The saying is, if you want to get stronger, sleep,” Daniels said. “That’s when you build muscle. That’s when you recover.”
Just a few weeks ago, backup tight end Lance Kendricks watched a Joe Rogan video podcast in which Walker was promoting his book. Kendricks is a night owl, which means he gets about 71⁄ hours of sleep at most whenever the team is in session, but he found Walker’s interview compelling enough to start taking an hourlong nap most days.
“I know that you need somewhere between seven and nine hours of sleep,” Kendricks said. “… (Walker) also talked about if you don’t get enough sleep you’re actually damaging your brain. I didn’t know that, either.”
There’s not space here to go into the totality of Walker’s book, though I highly recommend it. It’s an eye-opener. You think you operate well on six hours or less of sleep a night? Chances are, you’re delusional.
The accumulation of sleep research over the years strongly suggests that less than 1% of the population — yes, that’s less than 1% — actually functions well on six hours or less. The rest say they’re not impaired, but tests show they’re kidding themselves.
I wonder if NFL coaches and their assistants will ever accept this. For them sleep deprivation is a badge of honor, and convincing them it’s compromising their performance, well, good luck. But that’s a whole subject unto itself.
Meanwhile, Walker’s book devotes only about eight pages to athletes, but those eight pages say plenty.
Most surprisingly, recent studies, including those by Walker, show that deep sleep is crucial to learning physical skills, whether it be playing an instrument or a sport.
The studies are based in part on results of brain scans and devices that measure brain waves while subjects sleep. They show not just that sleep in general is crucial to learning skills, but more specifically, the final two hours of an eight-hour sleep cycle are the most conducive to transferring motor memories from the conscious brain to circuits that work subconsciously. In other words, that help make skills automatic, which is what sports are all about.
“Practice does not make perfect,” Walker writes. “It is practice, followed by a night’s sleep, that leads to perfection.”
Some players seem to have picked up on this intuitively. Cornerback Davon House said that when he’s struggling with something on the field, he meditates on it when he goes to bed.
“You’ll (then) think about it while you’re asleep for some reason,” he said,