Year: 2019
Type: article
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: This study examined the effect of extended sleep on reactive strength index (RSI) performance and decision-making skills of agility tasks. Participants (N = 15) volunteered for the study providing informed consent and were varsity student-athletes at Ithaca College. Participants attended five lab sessions over a six-week period with testing occurring at four of the lab sessions. Performance was measured by trials of the reactive strength index-drop jump test (RSI-DJ), a pre-planned change of direction (COD) test, and a reactive agility test (RAT). Participants were familiarized with testing protocols that were followed by a baseline period where habitual sleep patterns were recorded. After the two-week baseline period, participants were randomly assigned to either a sleep or control group. During the intervention period, the sleep group was required to extend their sleep by one-hour and the control group continued there habitual sleep patterns. The intervention period was two-weeks in duration. Each participant recorded sleep duration and quality throughout the duration of the study. Data were analyzed using a mixed design measures ANOVA. A pairwise comparison if the ANOVA yielded significant effects. The results showed participants from the sleep group increased their sleep duration by 11% and RSI by 5%. The reactive agility tests showed no significant changes; however, the sleep and control groups had faster decision making times upon posttest (5%). Practical application of this study is that extended sleep shows potential positive effects on reactive strength.
Author: Michael J. Wenger
Language: English
Subfield: Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2949623756