University of Tennessee Athletics
Sleeping To Better Performance
August 16, 2015 | Football
By Brian Rice
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
UTSports.com
It does not go inside a helmet or on shoulder pads. Its data does not show up on a computer screen as players move across the field. It does not measure how much a player lifts or how fast he runs a 40-yard dash.
In fact, the most important new technology that the Volunteers are utilizing in training camp tracks them when they are the least active. And that is exactly what it is meant to do.
Tennessee’s players are using sleep trackers and working with sleep coaches during training camp. Understanding their sleep is the newest tool in maximizing recovery to ensure the players take the biggest steps forward when they are awake.
“It’s all about investing in our players and investing in them reaching their full potential,” head coach Butch Jones said. “That’s all part of our sports science in having sleep coaches and sleep monitors and making sure they get the nine hours that they need. It’s about educating them on how you go to bed at night and how you fall asleep.”
The players have sensors that they place on their mattresses that measure how long they are asleep and how long it takes them to fall asleep. The sensor also tracks breathing and heart rate, key factors in how restful the sleep is and how much recovery benefit a player sees from it.
“The sleep detector is really cool,” said offensive lineman Jashon Robertson. “I’ve enjoyed the benefits of it. It has been a really big help with my sleeping habits. We have our own sleep coach and he keeps up with me daily. He checks to see if I’m getting my naps and the proper amounts of sleep.”
The sleep coach is another component of the pilot program, the first of its kind with a college football team in the country.
“The University of Tennessee is their pilot program to build out the apps and specs to truly optimize rest in athletes,” Jones said. “It’s been amazing to see the culture change with the guys and how seriously they’re taking their sleep. To get an idea of what keeps them up at night and why they’re not sleeping and all those different factors is amazing.”
The sleep coaches have access to the data from each player’s sensor and help them set bedtimes that will allow them to maximize their time spent asleep.
“It’s big,” tight end Ethan Wolf said of the accountability provided by the sleep coach. “I enjoy sleep whenever I can get it. The biggest thing it has shown me is how long it takes you to fall asleep. If I am going to try to get a certain amount of sleep, and it takes me this long to fall asleep, then I have a target of when to get in bed.”
Another set of tools used as a part of the program are special glasses that players wear in the hour before sleep that block out the blue light emitted by smartphones, laptops and TV screens that can have an effect on how quickly a person falls asleep.
All of the data comes to a smartphone app that is part of the program. Every player having access to his own data has turned the players into competitors in sleep, as well as football. The app also tells them not only what their physical recovery was, but also their mental recovery.
“They get updates on their phone every day,” said Allison Maurer, Tennessee’s sports nutritionist. “They see what their percent reaction time will be for that practice. Some people may think that’s a bad thing, but it’s been fantastic because if they know their reaction time is only 79 percent, they cant go back and sleep, but they know they have to do absolutely everything else to make sure they’re optimizing their performance.”
Players are feeling the difference.
“I can see it benefiting me already,” Wolf said. “I have more energy during the day, I don’t know if my reaction time is any better, but hopefully it is.”
Maurer has seen the players respond with as much enthusiasm as they have to the other innovations she has helped bring to UT in recent years to aid in recovery. The sleep study is another step in the line that includes the nutrition bar in the weight room at the Anderson Training Center and the carefully crafted menus at Smokey’s Sports Grill.
“It’s cool because they’re excited bout it and have embraced it,” Maurer said. “And they are getting results.”
The study may not be an activity that fans can see on Saturdays in the fall, but in a sport where every program is looking for the slightest advantage, they will certainly see its benefits.
“That’s just a small part of the development of our players,” Jones said. “But it has been a big asset, especially when you’re going through a grueling training camp like we’re going through.”
