Comparing Sleep in Shared and Individual Rooms During Training Camps in Elite Youth Soccer Players: A Short Report

Abstract

Context: Athletes’ sleep is the most important recovery strategy and has received growing attention. However, athletes may experience sleep disruptions due to numerous factors, such as training and competition workloads, travel, changes in sleep-wake schedules, and sleeping environments. They often spend nights in unfamiliar hotels, and sharing a bed, room, or both with another person might affect sleep duration and quality. Objective: To analyze the effect of sleeping in shared (SRs) versus individual (IRs) rooms on objective and subjective sleep and on slow-wave-sleep–derived cardiac autonomic activity during an official training camp in elite youth soccer players. Training and match workloads were characterized. Design: Observational case study. Setting: Hotel accommodations. Patients or Other Participants: Thirteen elite male youth soccer players. Results: Players slept longer in IRs than in SRs (þ1:28 [95% CI = 1:18, 1:42] hours:minutes; P, .001). Sleep efficiency was higher in IRs than in SRs (þ12% [95% CI = 10%, 15%]; P, .001), whereas sleep latency was shorter in IRs than in SRs (-3 [95% CI = -15, -4] minutes; P, .001). Subjective sleep quality was lower in IRs than in SRs (-2 [-3 to -2] arbitrary units; P, .001). No differences were found for slow-wave-sleep–derived cardiac autonomic activity or for training or match workloads between training camps. Conclusions: During soccer training camps, sleep may be affected by whether the athlete is in an SR versus an IR.