Enhancing Sleep in NCAA Division I Athletes: A Study of Sleep Extension Feasibility.
6 affiliations
- 1Division of Sports Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California, and Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, University of California, Los Angeles, California.
- 2Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California.
- 3Division of Sports Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, University of California, Irvine, California.
- 4Division of Sports Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California.
- 5Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, University of California, Los Angeles, California.
- 6Department of Performance Science and Thought Leadership, WHOOP, Inc, Boston, Massachusetts.
Abstract
Background
Sleep extension has been shown to improve varied aspects of athletic performance in collegiate athletes. Such studies have been conducted in small cohorts in controlled settings utilizing obsolete monitoring technology. The feasibility of sleep extension has not been evaluated in a broader cohort of collegiate athletes with modern monitoring technology.Hypothesis
Sleep extension may not be feasible in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletes.Study design
Crossover study.Level of evidence
Level 3.Methods
Baseline sleep data were collected from NCAA Division I athletes (women's soccer, men's soccer, baseball, and football) during a 2-week period. Subjects were then instructed to extend their total sleep time to 10 hours per night for 2 weeks. All sleep baseline and extension data were collected in the offseason, remote from school examinations. WHOOP bands recorded all sleep metrics. Data were analyzed using paired-samples t tests and Wilcoxon signed rank tests.Results
A total of 50 subjects (14 female, 36 male) participated. The study compared total sleep time (hours) and sleep consistency (percent) - the stability of sleep-wake schedule over time, between baseline and sleep extension phases. Sample size varied for both metrics, ranging from 46 to 49 participants, respectively. There was a statistically significant increase in sleep consistency during the sleep extension phase (baseline, 60.09 ± 12.6%; extension, 64.42 ± 12.4%; P = 0.02). However, total sleep time showed no significant difference between the 2 phases (baseline, 7.63 ± 0.88 hours; extension, 7.51 ± 0.88 hours; P = 0.27).Conclusion
Extension efforts improved sleep consistency but did not significantly impact total sleep time suggesting that a sleep extension intervention can enhance sleep consistency in NCAA Division I athletes but does not significantly impact total sleep time. Sleep extension may be challenging for collegiate athletes given the time-intensive demands of both academics and sports. While sleep extension may be feasible in professional sports, it does not appear to be so in the college setting.Clinical relevance
While the sleep extension intervention improved sleep consistency, it did not improve total sleep time, questioning the feasibility of sleep extension in collegiate sports.
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BibTeX
@article{goldman2026enhancing,
title = {{Enhancing Sleep in NCAA Division I Athletes: A Study of Sleep Extension Feasibility.}},
author = {Joshua T Goldman and Calvin Duffaut and Nicolas Hatamiya and Basil Ike and Brian Donohoe and Nelson F Boland and Jeremy Vail and Jeongeun Kim and Kristen E Holmes},
journal = {Sports health},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1177/19417381261496986},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42949008},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Enhancing Sleep in NCAA Division I Athletes: A Study of Sleep Extension Feasibility.
AU - Joshua T Goldman
AU - Calvin Duffaut
AU - Nicolas Hatamiya
AU - Basil Ike
AU - Brian Donohoe
AU - Nelson F Boland
AU - Jeremy Vail
AU - Jeongeun Kim
AU - Kristen E Holmes
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/28
JO - Sports health
DO - 10.1177/19417381261496986
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42949008
AB - Background Sleep extension has been shown to improve varied aspects of athletic performance in collegiate athletes. Such studies have been conducted in small cohorts in controlled settings utilizing obsolete monitoring technology. The feasibility of sleep extension has not been evaluated in a broader cohort of collegiate athletes with modern monitoring technology.Hypothesis Sleep extension may not be feasible in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletes.Study design Crossover study.Level of evidence Level 3.Methods Baseline sleep data were collected from NCAA Division I athletes (women's soccer, men's soccer, baseball, and football) during a 2-week period. Subjects were then instructed to extend their total sleep time to 10 hours per night for 2 weeks. All sleep baseline and extension data were collected in the offseason, remote from school examinations. WHOOP bands recorded all sleep metrics. Data were analyzed using paired-samples t tests and Wilcoxon signed rank tests.Results A total of 50 subjects (14 female, 36 male) participated. The study compared total sleep time (hours) and sleep consistency (percent) - the stability of sleep-wake schedule over time, between baseline and sleep extension phases. Sample size varied for both metrics, ranging from 46 to 49 participants, respectively. There was a statistically significant increase in sleep consistency during the sleep extension phase (baseline, 60.09 ± 12.6%; extension, 64.42 ± 12.4%; P = 0.02). However, total sleep time showed no significant difference between the 2 phases (baseline, 7.63 ± 0.88 hours; extension, 7.51 ± 0.88 hours; P = 0.27).Conclusion Extension efforts improved sleep consistency but did not significantly impact total sleep time suggesting that a sleep extension intervention can enhance sleep consistency in NCAA Division I athletes but does not significantly impact total sleep time. Sleep extension may be challenging for collegiate athletes given the time-intensive demands of both academics and sports. While sleep extension may be feasible in professional sports, it does not appear to be so in the college setting.Clinical relevance While the sleep extension intervention improved sleep consistency, it did not improve total sleep time, questioning the feasibility of sleep extension in collegiate sports.
SN - 1941-7381
SN - 1941-0921
ER -